Return of SOLDIER
by Renolvr
Summary: What would have happened if Cloud hadn't defeated Sephiroth and The Remnants?After three years,Sephiroth finally lets his true intentions for Gaia show,but what if his old force decided to stand against him?Can SOLDIER defeat the name that smudges theirs?
1. The Newest Target

_**A/N: Heya huns...here's the first chapter of the rewrite of Return of SOLDIER, let's face it; the first one sucked so badly it wasn't funny! But; let me know what ye think on this rewrite. **_

_**This first chapter centers around just before Gongaga was attacked - a scene that I hadn't included in the original of this, but I felt the urge to include it in this re-do. Ye're opinions would be highly appreciated huns!**_

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"Danni! Danni - c'mon hun; it's time to get up!"

Danni Fair groaned as she rolled over in her bed, forcing the top pillow of her three down over her head; all in an attempt to drown out her mother's shouts…how was it that mornings seemed to arrive so quickly? Still though - even she had to admit; if she had gone to bed at a reasonable hour, like most people, then she probably wouldn't be so tired, or more so; so unwilling to get up in the morning. But it was a bit late to think about that right then - she hadn't; and now she was paying for it!

"Danni - if I have to come up those stairs and drag you out of that bed; you'll be the sorry one!"

"Oh - I'm comin' already!"

Danni continued to mutter under her breath as she kicked off her duvet - putting a lot more venom than what was necessary into removing it from her frame… … …if she had to get up - then something was getting the blame! The nineteen-year-old shook out as her feet met the cold floor of her bedroom, and the frigid air of a Gongaga winter bit at her exposed skin…still cursing lowly as she searched around her room for some clean clothes…knowing that she'd seen a pair of jeans there a few days ago, and knowing she certainly hadn't put them away in the days that had elapsed since their sighting - she was honestly, and hopelessly, useless when it came to putting stuff away, the way she viewed it; if she left them around her room - then she'd know where they were when she wanted them… … …supposedly… … …

"Ah - I knew I saw them somewhere!"

A smile spread lightly across the youth's face as she triumphantly pulled a pair of faded and ripped blue jeans out from under a bundle of discarded battle-strategy books…faded and repeatedly read-through, some even missing half their covers from being over-read, while others were adorned with scribbles and pen stains on their exterior…memories of what her life had been like, but yet the young female had found it hard to simply forget about them - constantly going back to their pages whenever she got bored or upset… … …

"About time Danni…I was just going to send your father up to drag you out - what time did you _**actually**_ go to sleep at…and don't say one - you're light was still on at half-two…what were you doin hun - reading again?"

Danni smirked as she nodded her head - her mother knew her only too well! And it always proved easier to admit to things than to lie to her mother - never once had Josey Fair let pass any of her childrens' actions - then again; with both Zack and Danni under one roof, one had _**had**_ to have been on their toes…the amount of times the two siblings had taken to slagging matches and chasing each other in the heat of the moment was uncountable.

"About three Mom…I wanted to finish the chapter I was on…and the one after that… … …"

"And the one after that one, too?"

Josey smiled knowingly as her daughter hid a smirk, Danni may have been nine years his junior - but she was capable of being just as cheeky as her brother… … …wherever he was. Ten years had passed since the last time, either Josey or Nick, had seen their son…the last time anyone had set their eyes upon the SOLDIER had been on Danni's ninth birthday, that time having been the last time Zack had been home… … …though ten long years had passed since that date, she still remembered what the, then eighteen-year-old, had been talking about…an upcoming mission to a mountain village…a place called Nibelheim… … … Josey shook her head lightly as she pushed those thoughts to the back of her head, not willing to go pondering the unknown at that moment in time - for all she knew; Zack could have settled down in somewhere, found himself a nice wife; and maybe even have a family of his own by now… … …it seemed better to think of it that way than the alternative possibility.

"Stop it… you're only gonna end up upsetting yourself Mom."

Josey glanced up as she registered her daughter's words, slightly bewildered as to how the young woman had, so easily, been aware of what she had been thinking…but Danni was right, there was no point in reminiscing like she'd just been doing - all it ever did was leave even bigger questions that no one, _**ever**_, knew the answer to… … …

"Did you see the paper, love?"

Danni shook her head of ebony locks as she hit down the switch on the kettle - silently knowing; that if it had made the paper, then it was bad news. Probably another attack… … …three years had elapsed since the epidemic of Geostigma had almost brought the planet of Gaia to it's knees…three years since AVALANCHE and ShinRa had failed - no one blamed them, of course not; out of the millions of people on Gaia, they were the few who had, at least, attempted to stop Sephiroth's return, they had hindered the Remnants to the extent that most had been sure that victory would, once again, fall to them - but it hadn't. The main person who had stood against the Remnants, and Sephiroth - Cloud Strife…had almost been killed in his attempt to halt the repeat of history…he had fought, and unbelievingly well, but he'd gotten hurt; badly… … …he'd survived - but only due to the quick actions of his friends and the, supposed, healing water that was refuted to be present in a church in the ruins of Midgar…no one shamed him, no one blamed him - at least he _**had**_ tried…unlike so many others who had simply just stood there and watched as their very existence and lives had been threatened. Three years later, with The World Regenesis Organization having been established by the ex-ShinRa employee - Reeve Tuesti, along with AVALANCHE and ShinRa, all working in coalition - Sephiroth and his three brothers still seemed to have the upper hand…but one thing still remained unclear to those who opposed The Nightmare - why had he waited three full years already - what was he trying to accomplish?

"Banora was attacked… … …very few survived; those who did have been brought to Costa del Sol…the attacks are getting more frequent…and elevated."

Danni sighed as her mother spoke in a, rather, nostalgic and unemotional tone - she knew that herself…but the towns that had been attacked so far, seemed to have been picked at random in her opinion - none where near, or anyway linked to another, some even nearer the Northern Crater, and now Banora - there were no similarities or sequences to the attacks…and that was probably what made the hits so unnerving; no one could fathom a guess as to which would be the next to fall under the eyes of the Remnants - or even; Sephiroth… … …

"None of the locations make sense…none of the movements make sense…it's like they're looking for something, something that they seriously don't know the whereabouts of…maybe they are, maybe they need some-"

"Don't go thinking so hard Danni - you'll hurt yourself!"

Danni smirked as she shook her head - instantly knowing who had uttered the smart comment, and the sad part was; he actually thought he was being funny… … …well; one could hardly blame a man for trying at least!

"You know you're not funny - don't you?"

Nick Fair smiled as his daughter stuck her tongue out at him…her violet eyes shimmering eerily as she did so… … … six full years she'd been back - and he was grateful for every second of it…for too long had him and Josey been forced to play _**part-time **_parents to their own daughter, to be forced to watch on as she grew up without them even knowing - trying to keep it all a secret…and why? Because of that offer…but they couldn't have very well turned it down…they had been desperate for the Gil, and it had been their only life-line… … …but she was home now; and that's all that mattered.

"I have to try Danni - Minerva knows the barrel of laughs you are…"

"Ha-ha - guess who I inherited it from…and it's not Mom!"

"Okay - round one goes to Danni, enough now you two!"

Both Danni and Nick glanced at each other as Josey was forced to call a halt between the two of them…each still grinning as they met the other's gaze…it was the usual thing for a morning at their house - though things had been a lot more hectic when Zack had been there - it had been; him against the two siblings…let's just say; he had lost slagging matches back then also…a lot!

"Who want tea?"

Both Nick and Josey nodded as their only remaining child stood to make three cups of tea, the kettle having just boiled as father and daughter had been grinning at one another…truth be told; the nineteen-year-old did more than her fair share of work when it came to the house and other things…one needn't even have to ask for a hand around the house; Danni would simply know what needed doing, and do it; no arguing or mouthing, just got on with it.

Danni smiled lightly to herself as she reached to the top shelf of the cupboard, standing on the tips of her toes in order to obtain the correct height necessary to reach the cups there…but just as her hand closed around one of them; an unmerciful pain shot through her head…causing stars to dance around the edge of her vision and sending her balance awry… … …

"_**Danni**_!"

Josey allowed the, half scream, to leave her lips as she heard a cup shatter, evidently having met the ground at a force; but as the mother had turned around; her sights had set upon their daughter slightly doubled over and swaying slightly as she clutched at the side of the sink for support…

"I'm alright Mom…it'll pass in a minute or so…"

In that instant - it clicked within Josey's head as to what had caused her daughter to suddenly become so disorientated…and it had nothing to do with lack of sleep for that matter…something similar had happened only a month or so ago; but - it had only been a one of thing, correct?

"Danni…sit down for a minute hun…is this the same thing as last time?"

The youth nodded lightly as she sat down, with the help of her mother seems her sense of balance was still a bit wavy - for most females; all they had to worry about at _**that time of the month**_, was stomach cramps…yeah; she got them…amongst other things! Why it had only started to happen recently was beyond any of their guesses; but when it came to her monthly visit; she was likely to drop like stone at any given moment… … …the doctor in Gongaga was just as clueless to the reasons behind the young female's trouble as she was…but, she supposed; things could've been worse…how; she wasn't sure - but it sort of lessened the severity of the whole thing when you viewed it like that…

"Danni - please stay sitting…"

Danni shook her head as she gently pushed her mother's hand aside, not wanting to offend or anything in the doing of so, - she was fine now, it had passed…hopefully for another couple of weeks anyhow…but she wasn't about to be treated as an invalid for the rest of the day, she wasn't ill; so she certainly didn't want to be treated as such…she hated being sick - or being in a hospital; nine times out of ten; you were either ill or hurt to be in a hospital in the first place!

"I'm fine Mom - I told you it'd pass in a minute or so…don't look at me like that; I'm fine…honestly Mom!"

Nick smirked, despite himself, as Danni defiantly stood up; smiling in response to her mother's worried glare - sure; he was worried about her too, but, with Danni; she didn't want pity, or sympathy, or comfort…she was her and that was that, no getting around her once her mind had been made.

Danni took a breath to mouth a cheeky comment that had formulated within her head as her mother refused to stop giving her the worried look…but whatever she had prepared to say; literally died in the back of her throat as a blood-curdling in-humane screech shattered the silent air of Gongaga…one that was closely met by a chorus of the same screeches…in the space of mere seconds; the sleepy and peaceful town was chaotic…running feet were heard, amongst cries and screams of people… … …

Danni stood stock still as she looked from her mother to her father…mentally knowing what had just happened outside the sanctity of their small house…the latest target of the random attacks had been chosen… … … and it was Gongaga.

_**A/N; Most of the next chapter will center on the massacre of Gongaga huns, and the introduction of AVALANCHE, ShinRa and the WRO - but for now; thanks for reading!**_

_**XXXXX**_

_**Renovlr:-P**_


	2. Destroyed

_**A/N: Thanks for the reviews huns! They're seriously appreciated. Here's chapter two anyhow. I'd like to point out that this fic is AU, and that it's a Kingdom Heearts crossover, although not majorly; only a few characters are included.**_

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Several seconds went by as Danni remained stock still - taking in the harrowing noises and screams from outside, should she turn and hide? Or go out and face the Remnants? No one else in the town could, or would - that much she knew too well unfortunately…but there were three of them, and no matter what her past had been; three to one was not a good odd to pitch a fight upon…but she surely couldn't just stand by and listen as her hometown was torn apart, how was she supposed to live with herself if she just stood there and listened to the screams of innocent people - people she knew and those who had watched her grow up… … …sure; the alarm had, most indefinitely, been raised as to Gongaga's plight…but by the time ShinRa, AVALANCHE, or The WRO arrived; it'd be too late as usual.

"Don't make a sound…"

Both Nick and Josey looked to their daughter as she whispered the few words their way…knowing that the slightest of sounds could give away the fact that they were still inside and safe, as opposed to those who were outside…but then; why was she walking away from them - towards the front door?! Josey made to follow the youth, but was halted as her husband placed a hand on her shoulder and yanked her backwards, nodding to Danni as she glanced back over her shoulder;

"Don't treat her like a kid…she's not one anymore… … …"

Josey shook her head - adamant that the last child she had left would not be allowed to be put in harm's way…one child, gone without a slightest trace, was more heart-breaking enough; but to allow her youngest and only daughter to simply walk out the door whilst knowing the environment she would be walking into out there, was nothing short of a death-wish on the youth's head;

"No - I don't care whether she is a kid anymore or not - I don't care what you know about this type of thing Danni; it was years ago - you walked away from that life that night…please don't walk back into it…please don't hun? Someone will be here soon - ShinRa or The WRO…just don't go getting involved… … …"

"Mom - me, ShinRa - same place; not good…"

"But the SOLDIER programme is dead…it has been since you and Ang-"

"But what's to stop them starting it up again - all that happened was we went MIA and AWOL…a job in SOLDIER is a job for life…it they find any SOLDIERs - Rufus won't think twice of detaining them…Mom; I'm no idiot!"

Danni felt her jaw tighten as she heard her mother's harsh whispers and unwelcome memories shot across her mind…she had never asked for the life, more so; _privilege_ she had been set with…her Mom and Dad had - but she didn't blame them for accepting the offer that had been struck either - if she had been given the choice of it all over again; the young woman wouldn't have changed a single thing…as someone had said; you're past defines you…whether you want it to or not.

"Mom, Dad - go upstairs…Shadow Creepers are predatory, but thick as well; they'll attack what they see…and if they don't see you, you're safe…"

* * *

"Reno - the chopper! Reeve's gone ahead, so's Cloud…"

Reno merely nodded his head as he turned and began to make his way to the roof of the ShinRa HQ for the chopper pad - already knowing exactly what those words meant…another town or village had been hit…

"What about the other five yo?"

Rufus shook his blonde head as he walked a few paces ahead of the vividly-haired Turk… … …ShinRa, AVALANCHE and The WRO had been lucky - having obtained five formidable allies - the guts of twelve months ago - a youth had contacted Cloud…apparently the blonde knew the kid from two years previous; during a time that he had spent some time in a place, known as; Hollow Bastion…either way; the youth had been bearing news in regards to a certain Organization having risen back to power…but that five of it's younger members had chosen to deflect from their Superior and act as double agents - knowing that darkness never usually managed to conquer light…so why should they so openly decide to fight a dying cause simply because of what they were - evidently; none of the five had seen it fit to do so, and had allied with ShinRa and The WRO…bringing with them; unique talents and quirks, it had taken a while for them all to trust the youths, having being told the story of Organization XIII and what their main aim had been two years ago…but they were as much a part of the group now as any of them - their quirks and unusual tendencies not even batting an eye-lid any longer… … …

* * *

Shadow Creepers…broken glass…screams… … …Danni felt her heart beating hard in her chest as she took in the extent of damage that had been wreaked upon her hometown - everyone she had known, everyone who had watched her and Zack grow up, the town she had watch slowly recover, from the one it had been after the Mako-Reactor explosion, everything she had held dear to her heart, her own little world within the circular forest that cut it off from the rest of the planet…it was gone. Literally only a gutted shell of what it had been…Danni glanced around in pure shock of the unprovoked brutal, and merciless, attack that had suddenly befallen Gongaga - the youth snapped her head around as a flash of orange caught the corner of violet irises…the forest had caught fire, along with so many other houses - but now they were well and truly trapped…the forest surrounded the whole town, if the fire spread; they'd be cut off and trapped in… … …

"Aww, you look lost…wanna play?"

Danni spun on her heel as an unfamiliar voice sounded, she immediately back-tracked as she spotted the bulkiest of the three remnants, as well as taking note of him flexing his left arm; an action that was immediately followed by a handle springing from the contraption on his arm… … …Danni shook her head as she snapped out of her daze, suddenly becoming aware of the situation she had unintentionally landed herself in; he had a weapon, she didn't…it didn't take a brain surgeon to fathom out what the odds were in relation to her… … …

Kadaj smirked his demented smirk as he spotted the young woman standing opposite his older brother, watching on as the female fell back into a fighting stance, only to be caught off guard by the remnant's unnatural speed… … …

Danni, unintentionally, allowed a cry to escape her lips as her back collided forcefully with that of a wall, more than likely one of her neighbour's homes, causing her head to snap backwards in retaliation to her body's sudden halt…what had hit her; she honestly had no idea, one minute she'd been watching the remnant's moves intently - then had lost track of him…and found herself being thrown backwards… … …

"Danni - Danni; get away, get your parents and run!"

Danni glanced up, as and grip closed upon her upper left arm, helping her back to her feet, the youth found herself to be feeling slightly confused, most probably due to her head bouncing off of the wall she had collided with…she looked up once more she registered whom had pulled her to her feet; her sights fell upon a close family friend, more so an uncle - Kevin Sanders…he had been best friends with her father in their days as kids, and had remained a close friend in the years that had followed, even being her father's best-man at her parents wedding, so her and Zack had been told anyhow, not to mention being Zack's godfather… … …Danni snapped out of her thoughts as the sound of a gun being cocked grabbed her attention, she shot her glowing gaze around hastily as she attempted to locate the gun-wielding remnant; Yazoo… … …but just as her eyes locked onto the most feminine of the three monstrosities; a gunshot echoed out - one that was immediately followed by a splattering sensation hitting the left side of her face… … …the nineteen-year-old, stood still for a moment or so, trying to make sense of the sudden events that had just transpired…it was then that she glanced to her side, where only seconds earlier, the equivalent of her uncle had stood, trying to help her…

"_**No! Kevin!"**_

Danni immediately fell to her knees, as she realised what the splattering sensation had been caused by - the youth allowed a rebellious tear to streak down her cheek as she took note of the single bullet wound marring the centre of her uncle's forehead and his wide-open, glassy, eyes… … …

"_**Bastards**_!"

Kadaj smirked lightly as he stepped forward, swinging his double-bladed katana carelessly, but yet maliciously, as he approached the girl…but yet halted as he took note of her irises taking on an intense glow, more than he had been accustomed to witnessing, as well as recognising the tell-tale signs of what they had been looking for all along…

"So you're Danielle Fair? I've got a message for you…Mother is coming; brother wants you to be on the right side of this battle; if you join us, you're life will be spared in return for the cells you possess…if not; then your life's forfeit - you're choice really…"

Danni narrowed her eyes as she looked to the youngest of the three remnants - how dare he give her an ultimatum, how dare he come into her hometown, destroy the place, kill her uncle - and then offer her a place on _**his**_ side…how fucking dare he! The young woman stood as she faced the three mistakes of nature, exhuming nothing but hatred for them…so Sephiroth had offered her the place, in return for her cells…she couldn't even stomach being in the same room as him - he knew that, they both did…especially after what had happened when she'd been seven - but he had hardly informed the remnants of his and her pasts crossed…but then again; nothing could be put passed him… … …

"Tell your brother to go and fuck himself!"

Kadaj nodded lightly as he took in the teenager's words, looking back over his shoulder as he stepped aside, not willing to waste any further time in the town, now that the offer had been made, and declined; it didn't matter what happened to the place, or her for that matter.

"Let's go; she's no use to us now…but; just a little going away present Danielle!"

Danni dropped to her stomach, immediately, as a glare of light blue affronted her vision, denoting the fact that the demented remnant had seen fit to launch a Materia blast her way…though she had dropped from the blast's line of fire; she had still put herself in a stupid position, yet again, she glanced back over her shoulder, from where she lay on her stomach on the ground - only to realise that it hadn't been a neighbour's house she had been in front of…but her own… … …Danni felt her stomach twist agonizingly as the blast tore her home apart - the youth felt herself screaming as she realised her parents had still been in there…

"_**Mom, Dad**_!"

Kadaj laughed as he heard the female scream, he watched on as rubble rained down from, what had, evidently, been her home, covering her frame almost immediately as she had been in close proximity… … …it didn't matter; the order had been clear; if she refused, then her life was forfeit…no two ways about it - those were Sephiroth's orders, and he carried them out without question, regardless of the fact that the girl was seemingly connected to his big brother, although how, was still an unanswered question to him… … …

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_**A/N: Thanks for reading huns! Another thing to point out - you'll find with this fic that I refer to Danni and Zack's eyes as violet/amethyst, the reason being; when I wrote this fic, I was basing her features on Zack's, his appearance being the one out of Last Order, in which his eyes are violet and not blue. **_


	3. Aftermath

**_A/N: Hey huns - hope ye like this chapter, some major explaining to take part in chapter four! Anyhow; thank you all for the reviews I've gotten so far for this fic; it means alot that I'm getting support for this rewritten version of this, it's the first Fanfic I ever wrote, and I have a kinda soft spot for it!LOL!_**

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"Danni…c'mon kiddo, stay awake…"

Danni groaned lowly as she felt her weight shifting, though still kept her eyes shut, almost afraid to open them for fear of what they would see - what was left of her hometown…but she knew that male voice from somewhere, faint bells of recognition sounded within her muddled and dazed mind as she tried to recall the face that went with the voice, but all in vain as her thoughts were pushed back by the, more than evident, sensation of pain;

"_**Ahhh**_…"

"Easy now…I know you're hurting, I know…I'm sorry for not getting here in time…I'm so sorry Danni…"

The nineteen-year-old bit back another gasp of pain as she felt herself being lowered, a hard, rough, surface meeting her aching back as the voice seemed to whisper it's final words to her;

"Please forgive me, but it's for the safest if they take you back…I'll find you; I promise."

Danni cracked her mako-glowing amethyst irises open slightly as she tried to lock onto the owner of the voice that had pulled her from the rubble of her home…but not before unconsciousness began to reclaim her mind once again…but not before the youth managed to catch a blurred image of the male's face… … …_black hair, shimmering blue eyes, and….white… … …_

* * *

Rufus glanced around hastily as he stepped from the chopper, having already spotted the raging flames as they had flown over head the town…but it was a far cry from what the dense vegetation had hid from the outside world; broken and destroyed houses, peoples homes…the one place where one was supposed to be safe - and this evil had intruded upon their lives…and ripped them apart at the very seams. The company owner looked sideways as sudden appearance caught his attention;

"Axel - get that fire under control!"

The fiery-haired young male nodded his head as he registered Rufus' voiced order amongst the deafening roar of the raging inferno that had become of, the majority, of the circular forest that encircled Gongaga… … …

"I'm on it!"

Cloud shot his eerily shimmering eyes around at speed, as he attempted to locate one house in particular, one that had been situated just as you had entered the town…but all that met his concerned gaze was ruins and smouldering rubble. The blonde grimaced slightly as he felt a sickening sensation grow within the pit of his stomach as he thought of Zack's parents…and his younger sister.

"Bodies are to be buried, injured air-lifted, and a list to be compiled of all those missing!"

Numerous WRO troops saluted their commissioner as they took in his order and set about fulfilling the despairing tasks…it was an order than none liked to follow - and one that was being given far to often lately.

Rufus shook his head as he halted for a few moments, his clear blue irises taking in the true devastation - Gongaga was gone…barely a single wall of a house had been left standing, shells remained of maintained homes, ruins of what had been…this was worse than any of the other; at least with Banora - it had been a relatively structured and thought out blow - they had hit, killed, and left; no needless destroying of homes, no fires…just simply killed the majority of the village's population and left without destroying a single thing… … …this was different - this was no attack; it was an out-and-out massacre! The male sighed deeply as he snapped out of his thoughts, having realised that, right then; the burden of dealing with the latest blow, had been placed upon his shoulders yet again…it did beg the question though; was he to be forever forced to clean up after his father, to deal with that man's mistakes and misjudgements?

"Demyx; where are the other three?"

Demyx glanced over his shoulder as Rufus collared him by name…he had been told where Roxas, Zexion and Marluxia were…he knew that much - but for the life of him; the reason for their absences had suddenly escaped him…after several seconds of attempted remembering; the blonde nobody shrugged his shoulders;

"Dunno - Axel knows, he told me…I just forgot…"

Rufus ShinRa simply shook his head in an exasperated fashion as he looked to the youth, the blonde was utterly and seriously clueless at times…usually the times that the information was most direly needed though.

"Just give AVALANCHE and The WRO a hand locating survivors…if there are any - this was a personal, it's a massacre - not an attack…"

The blonde youth simply nodded his head, a grim look upon his face as he glanced around the ravaged town…they're wouldn't be that many survivors - that much was certain…one need have only looked around to make that conclusion.

He had thought he'd seen a lot of things…and he had - Organization XIII had caused much hardship in it's existence, too much to take count of; the most evident of those events being the almost taking of Kingdom Hearts, something that had been their top achievement, and yet still; their ultimate downfall… … …but a part of Xemnas' words had been correct; nothingness was eternal, as was lightness and darkness, but a separate entity; one that could not be contained by either element - so therefore; as each member had been defeated, their beings had digressed into darkness… … …a time period that had not lasted as long as the warriors of light had hoped; nothingness was a separate element; and as being such, darkness had expelled beings of nothingness from it's confines…leading to the return of Organization XIII. He had to admit though; enough was enough. They had all seen how far the Organization's will had brought them - to the verge of their success…simply falling at the last hurdle…so why should they have simply agreed to do the same again? Why agree to such a thing, when success always seemed to escape their grips…why simply agree to a life of defeat because of what they were? Five of them had made their choices; they had allied with the former enemies…leaking information to the Keyblade Warriors and helping out other allies, whenever they could get away from the stronghold without raising suspicion, as they were then and there, albeit only two… … …

"How come you didn't tell Rufus the other three are on missions?"

Demyx merely shrugged carelessly without turning around, as Axel's voice was heard to be querying him, the latter having evidently managed to halt the fire that had almost fully enclosed the town, although; not before the majority of the dense vegetation had been all but consumed by the flames…

"Forgot…any survivors?"

The taller of the two youths nodded his head in the affirmative, albeit nodding it lightly - aware of the gravity of the situation was…there had been only a handful of survivors, a sorrowful representation of the amount of people who had inhabited the town. But what could they do but simply keep looking and hope that maybe next time, they'd be quicker to aid, rather than being forced to deal with the aftermaths

"Only a few, they're just about to be airlifted…there's over three quarters of the population dead, Reeve's ordered lists, but they're still a good few missing, so whether they got out, which I doubt, or the Shadow Creepers got them - I dunno… … …"

The two nobodies lapsed into a silence as they both continued to walk on, each one keeping his eyes peeled - glancing over the smouldering ruins of broken homes, searching for any signs of anyone who The WRO may have over-looked…it was, undoubtedly, unlikely that any such action had occurred; but it was worth a try - even though the odds had been stacked against the town's inhabitants; a few had survived…

"Hey Axel - look!"

Axel froze in retaliation to Demyx's words, silently following the blonde's gaze as he turned… … …Demyx stood still for a moment or two, as he tried to comprehend what he was seeing; a young woman, no older than himself, was laid out of the dusty ground, only mere metres from where him and Axel had ground to a halt…how none of the WRO had sighted her was beyond him; she was straight out in the open, well away from the smouldering remains and piles of rubble, well out of harms way; almost as if being placed there to be found… … …without another thought on the matter; the usually clueless young man had shot forwards, taking the lead for a change…bending down as he attempted to locate a pulse, or any signs of life - looking at her didn't give the best of hope; her skin was pale and covered in uncountable bruises, cuts, and scrapes, it seemed there was to be another number added to the death-toll of Gongaga… … …but; the moment Demyx touched the youth's skin, she allowed as low, almost inaudible, groan to escape her lips as she flinched in retaliation to his touch…the blonde nobody furrowed his eyebrows as he made up his mind, placing one of his arms under the female's knees and the other under the back of her neck…

"Axel, can you open a portal?"

* * *

Tifa glanced around as the last of The WRO aircrafts took off, bound for Costa del Sol hospital, and medical centres that were capable of taking in any patients, it was bad when all found still alive; were capable of being transported by only a single aircraft…in all honesty; it was a sorrowful sight to bear witness to.

"Hey Tifa - is the ship gone?!"

The ebony-haired barmaid nodded her head as she turned, having recognised the voice as Axel's…it had been a bit of a shock to the system alright, upon first meeting the five nobodies - especially the pyromaniac of them… needless to say; there had been immediate glances to a red-head of their own, only for the Turk to smirk and introduce his brother… … …a feat that had been easier said than done, as Axel had rejected the name Reno had referred to him as, forcing a quick - and still to be fully explained, explanation about heart, nobodies, Kingdom Hearts and all the other stuff that set them apart from the rest…. … …

"Mmm….it just left there now, wh - oh my God, is she alive?!"

Demyx nodded as Tifa's gaze passed Axel's frame, only to land upon the sight of him, more so; the sight of the young female in his arms…

"Yeah - but she's pretty banged up…her ribs took the worst of whatever hit her…"

"M…my Mom and Dad…"

The blonde glanced down as the girl, he held in his arms, spoke lowly, still keeping her eyes shut as she, noticeably, winced - supporting the fact of the damage her ribs had sustained…the youth couldn't help but ask questions…despite the confused state she was in, everything about her was a blank; and she was the only one who would be capable of giving a view on what had happened - even maybe help them in understanding what had happened to cause such a horrendous and personal blow to the town…

"What's you name? Where's your house?"

No reply met his words…the female remained silent this time around…evidently having lost consciousness once more…but not before her spell of semi-consciousness had drawn the attention of the others, having already airlifted those with even the slightest chance of survival to safety, there had been no other tasks to be dealt with…until the two nobodies had reappeared, with a third person… … …

"Demyx, on her neck - is there a locket?"

Several heads turned in as Rufus stepped forward, making a beeline for the youth that the blonde held, his eyes trained onto her frame as he glanced back to Tseng, the Turk nodding as he followed his boss' gaze…

"It was always suspected that she had returned here - but the troops never returned, and there was always the possibility that Angeal had taken her with him…"

Demyx watched on in slight confusion as the company owner glanced at the unconscious youth - Rufus' hand immediately went to the girl's neck, grasping the golden chain that hung backwards on it and running it through his fingers, until the locket that had weighed it down came to rest between his thumb and forefinger…earning a slight smirk as he glanced back up to his head-Turk;

"_**Danni**_…"

* * *

_**A/N: Any thoughts hun? Or ideas? If so - don't be afraid to PM me or something, I don't bite - just ask Jeanneandheralters!**_

_**Thanks again huns!**_


	4. Explanations

_**A/N: Heya huns! And how're ye all? This chapter goes out to; Padfoot - rawr, for her kind words and support! Here's the next chapter anyhu!**_

* * *

"She's only a kid…how did you know her name? Have you met her before?"

Rufus sighed as the questions continued to assault his hearing…a mere thirty odd minutes had elapsed since The Shera had taken leave from the smouldering remains of Gongaga. The company-owner had point-blank refused to discuss that matter of the teenage girl any further, instead; ensuring that the girl was immediately seen by the onboard medical staff, more specifically; the head doctor and scientist; Shalua Rui. For truth to be told; even he was a little shocked by the sudden turn of events, even though he was probably the only person there with the most understanding of why…but it looked as if; answers were in dire need at that moment in time.

Six years had passed since he had last set his eyes upon the girl…it had been that long since ShinRa's greatest wall had fallen; six years ago, Meteor had almost succeeded in ripping the planet to shreds, the people of Gaia had, quiet literally, been tested to their very limits by everything that they had looked up to and feared - Sephiroth had been a Hero…and now look at it all; they were still fighting a losing war… … …six years ago; it had been clear to see the disintegration of ShinRa's strongest force; SOLDIER - with the General having been supposedly dead, all that had remained of the 1st Classes, had been three individuals, of which had disappeared from ShinRa's traces, without any hint of a clue as to where…the three had simply gone MIA and AWOL, those being three holders of 1st Class rank, having been; Angeal Hewley, Genesis Rhapsodos - and Danielle Fair.

"Her name is Danielle Fair, Danni for short…her parents' names are…_**were**_; Nick and Josey Fair, her brother's name was; Zack Fair. I have met her before…"

"So that's her… … …"

Tifa glanced back over her shoulder as she registered Cloud's voice, although aware that the blonde had been spoken more so to himself, as opposed to all onboard The Shera. She immediately felt her mind flick upon the image of a certain black-haired SOLDIER as her fiancé continued to talk…sure; things had been fairly rocky, but after Sephiroth had succeeded in his return, things had changed drastically; Cloud had taken several serious blows and injuries that day… … …the short flight to Aerith's church, a distance they had more than likely crossed before without even realising it - but that day; it had seemed agonizingly far away, taking far longer to arrive there as it usually would have…they had all been shocked on board, sure; the Geostigma epidemic had passed, but a worse Nightmare had arisen; one that they did not succeed in stopping in its' arrival…her stomach had been sick and twisted uncountable times as she had prayed to Minerva, The Ancients - even Aerith herself, that her childhood friend would hold on just long enough to utilize the healing water in the flower-girl's old church… … …he had been lucky - even Cloud himself knew that, he'd gained several scars that day, but he'd gotten away with his life… … …just about anyhow, and with it had come a realization in many; take what you desire while you can, because you may not be granted a second chance in the matter, he had, as had numerous other couples…

"He'd mentioned her a few times…but; how did you recognise her?"

Seconds laced with a thick silence slowly elapsed as Rufus mentally considered both sides of the argument; on one hand - he, along with the Turks, were the only people who knew of Danni's past, the only ones capable of revealing all, or leaving her forgotten as she, evidently, so wished to. But then on the other hand; her past made sense as to why Gongaga had been so personally massacred… … …but the youth had successfully managed to keep her location secret for six long years…it wasn't as if ShinRa hadn't tried to search Gongaga for her…several troops had been deployed, on different occasions throughout the years - but none had ever returned to ShinRa, it had finally been concluded to halt such recon regiments…it was suspected that they had either sent severely under-trained individuals on such missions, leading their inexperience to put them in harms way along their orders - or a 1st Class had intervened along the way… … …whatever had been the cause; no trace of any of the three SOLDIERs had ever been found. Rufus sighed as he finally reached a decision on the matter;

"Follow me…"

No one spoke as they followed the company-owner to the one of the onboard computer terminals, all silently watching as curiosity got the better of them - it was now apparent that Rufus knew more of this Danni girl than they did…and now all were eager to see what was so special about this youth…why had she survived the massacre when uncountable others, hadn't? Why had she sustained such serious injuries - ones that seemed consistent with being involved in a fight… … …

Rufus glanced up at the large screen as he entered the ShinRa databanks, pausing for only a second or so as the sealed databanks requested his validation code…then the same routine for the locked files, stepping back well out of the way as the designated profile opened up, filling the entire screen with a picture and background information of a SOLDIER… … …

"Meet Danni Fair, SOLDIER 1st Class…AWOL since just prior to Sephiroth killing my father."

Numerous pairs of eyes all locked onto the image that had suddenly spread across the small screen…an image that rendered most in disbelief as they tried to register why a mere teenager was sporting the tell-tale navy uniform of a SOLDIER 1st Class…wondering why the youth even _**had**_ a SOLDIER profile to start with. As the silent seconds, once again, began to build up; Rufus took the initiative to start the, evidently, greatly needed explanation;

"Her full name is Danni, Aisling, Fair, she's nineteen…she's also an AWOL SOLDIER, 1st Class. When Zack was a little kid, he got seriously ill and was hospitalized, both Nick and Josey weren't of well-off backgrounds; so ShinRa stepped in with an off…more so; a deal - ShinRa provided the gil for their son's treatment, in return for furthering the J-Project…Josey had been two months pregnant at the time… … …"

"I don't remember her yo…say her name again - ow! Elena; fuck off!"

Hardly a single person turned as an audible smack was heard - signalling the fact that Reno had received a price for his badly timed comment… … …Cloud tore his gaze away from the screen as he caught the meaning behind the company-head's words - The J-Project…but she was Zack's little sister, she couldn't possibly have been a member of SOLDIER also, surely her 1st Class SOLDIER brother would have been aware of it all, surely he would have passed a comment somewhere along the line in regards to his family's connection with ShinRa… … …

"How? How could she - Zack never mentioned anything about his family having ties with ShinRa-"

Rufus immediately cut the blonde off short - wanting to explain and say everything he knew first of all, before being bombarded with questions and queries…it always annoyed the hell out of him when people decided to ask questions in the middle of and explanation; surely if they would just hold on a few more minutes and hear what he had to say; then a lot of their unanswered questions wouldn't exist.

"He never knew, it was all kept secret; apparently it had been part of the deal…as far as Zack had been aware; Danni had been attending a boarding school most of the year…in reality; she had been at Junon, the majority of her training had taken place there, her in-company guardian had been Angeal Hewley, whilst she had been at ShinRa; she had been under his guardianship and his alone, he had been responsible for her welfare and most of her training…her training later switched mentors as her abilities began to develop further… … …Angeal remained her guardian, but her mentorship was switched to another SOLDIER…Sephiroth."

"Now I remember her yo!"

Elena didn't even attempt to swipe for her fellow Turk this time around, instead; the female simply shook her head and rolled her eyes towards the heavens above - Reno was Reno; and that was the scary thing!

An eerie vacuum of sound seemed to envelope The Shera as all onboard registered the bomb-shell that Rufus had just dropped upon them all - the youth that they had just rescued from the smouldering remains of her hometown…had been taught almost everything she knew, by _**him**_… … …

"What're you doin?"

Demyx voiced his query hastily as he spotted Cid turning from the computer terminal and making straight for the steering wheel of the vast airship…evidently having decided upon something or other, but without informing any of them to his plans…

"Goin back to Gongaga y'all - leave the kid there; if she's from that same goddamn project thing as him - she'll fuckin live, and if she doesn't; oh well…the last thing this planet needs is another Sephiroth - we can't even handle him!"

"Hold it!"

Within mere split seconds; the blonde nobody had repositioned himself between the pilot and the steering mechanism of the airship, having utilized a corridor of darkness to aid in the hasty relocation…it was unusual for him to object to, more or less, anything really - but this just seemed so wrong in his opinion; the girl, Danni, was evidently hurt a great deal…her hometown had been destroyed, probably along with any of her friends and family, and even; parents…she, literally, had nowhere else to go - and yet Cid was determined to let her fend for herself alone and injured, and no one else was objecting either - why; because of a person who had mentored her, and what she had been part of… … …

"You're gonna condemn her for being part of something?!"

"Damn right - look at the last result of the project kiddo!"

Demyx shook his head adamantly, an unusual strength having found root in the tone of his voice as he glanced over towards the only other member of Organization XIII who was present…knowing that the same thing was going through the flame-manipulator's mind…they were no better…but Danni hadn't been given a choice in taking part in this project thing - whereas him and Axel had willingly aided in the attempted taking of Kingdom Hearts - and yet they were being trusted with full knowledge of the side they had stood by before?

"So you're gonna blame her for being part of something she had no choice in, hold it against her, even though up until minutes ago; you didn't even know who the hell she was? And yet you're willing to trust me?! After everything I willingly did for Organization XIII… … …"

"Cid...she's Zack's sister - I can't let you turn back, I owe him...this is the least I can do... ... ..."

And with those few words; the matter had been settled...Cloud had spoken his choice and thoughts on the matter, albeit briefly; but none were willing to go against the blonde's choices - not on this matter anyhow. They were all too aware of the male's past, the marring times in it and who had helped him when he was in the most direst need of help; and Cloud wasn't about to forget that either...Zack had saved his life, the least he could do was look out for his sister... ... ...

* * *

_**A/N; Okay...reviews would be extrememly appreciated for this chapter huns, mainly because it's the one with alot of the answers and background in it - so don't be gentle, if it sucks; then please let me know and I'll rewrite this chapter. This is a rewrite of the story anyhow, I want it to work out this time huns!LOL **_


	5. First Account

_**A/N; Heya huns! Yay - school is finally out! I'm delighted, so here's the first update of my summer holidays - thanks huns!**_

* * *

"Please don't tell me you're here again…"

Rufus ShinRa groaned lowly as he placed a hand to his forehead, shaking his head lightly as he did so, still smirking lightly despite himself…two weeks had elapsed since Gongaga had been massacred, and throughout the fourteen days; Gaia had slipped into a frightening lull - no other attacks had transpired, no additional lives had been prematurely ended…it was eerie how peaceful the planet had become, slightly reminiscent of a quiet before a storm, a storm that no one knew when or where it would strike… … …**Dannielle Fair - **that name had caused quiet a stir since it had been revealed, although Rufus had attempted to keep the youth's identity under-wraps, at least until she had fully regained consciousness…what he hadn't banked on had been the ShinRa medical databanks still containing several of her medical reports from her younger years…it hadn't taken long between the time Danni had been admitted for the realization to come to the surface. But it may have been rather **simple** of him to presume it would be that easy to keep the teenager's name a hidden word, in hindsight; it was a rather idiotic idea, especially when one considered that the majority of the ShinRa employees which now worked in Edge, were past employees who had worked for the company during it's monopolising reign over Midgar…still though; it was good to have medical personnel with prior knowledge of the girl's medical records…for the two weeks; Danni had been flitting in and out of consciousness, for another person to be rendered as such would have been worrying, but Tyler, a middle-aged ShinRa doctor, of whom had been the girl's company physician up until her, and Angeal's disappearances six years ago, had cleared up why; it was a form of safety mechanism…though Rufus himself had never been fully filled in on what truly set those of the J-Project aside from others, he had been led to believe that it went much deeper than mere swordsmanship and battle strategies…according to Tyler; Danni's body had shut itself down, in order to ensure its' capabilities would not show while she was incapable of bearing proper control over them…and for everyday in those fourteen; Demyx had come to check upon her, well - not so much come and then see how she was doing, as; appearing out of a portal, and asking the query straight off, or simply just not announcing himself full-stop, leaving it up to someone else to walk into Danni's room, in the in-company medical wing, and finding the blonde nobody there…such as what Rufus had just done…

"Kay - I won't tell you then…as far as you know; I'm not here, if that makes you feel better…"

Demyx didn't even bat an eye-lid at the company president, so what if he was the only person concerned about this teenager, was it wrong to hope she would be okay, or did they all have Cid's view on the subject? Truth be told, the water manipulating nobody had been cold towards the majority of them lately, and he wasn't going to lie just to make it seem right; he was pissed off, and with due reason - how none of them, apart from Cloud, had been so willing to allow Cid to turn the airship around…and yet they were all as hypocritical as to fully trust him and Axel, and the rest, when they had so obviously done wrong by many people in their recent pasts, whereas Danni hadn't… … … …Rufus sighed lightly as he glanced from either of the youths, already guessing that something more was going to grow from Demyx's concern…but youngsters would be youngsters, and nothing anyone could do would change that law of nature.

"Cut the attitude, briefing in study hall two…Axel's already there, so's everyone else…except for you, so would you _**kindly**_ get your butt up and into that hall - fucking portals!"

As the angered curse reverberated around the near-silent room, only one other person remained there apart from the company owner…and that singular other person was not there by her own volition - it seemed a certain blonde nobody had not been in the mood for an ear-bashing at that moment in time, him having utilised a portal to leave the room…all Rufus hoped for; was that Demyx had gone to study hall two… … …

* * *

"I don't know…he's not spending as much time in the stronghold anymore - Zexion's trying to figure out what's goin on right now, but Xemnas' not even letting the founding members of The Organization know…"

Axel, for want of another action, stood from where he'd been seated, exasperated as his mind once again began to attempt to figure out why their, supposed, leader, The Superior, was missing from their base so often, and not even letting those who had before been close to his actions and decisions, know the reasons as to his unusual absences…there was something going on - something that was purposely being kept from him…granted; both himself, and Roxas, hadn't been in Xemnas' good books since the revival of Organization XIII - pretty much anything but! Both had paid dearly for their treason to the Organization…Roxas more so than the pyromaniac, which was, in a way, unfair. Roxas had, literally, been held captive in a data-world…whereas he had blatantly double-crossed time and time again - regardless; five of them were in meticulous positions, the last thing they needed to do, was to piss off one of the other members…no matter how bad it had been while being sanctioned for their treason, Axel doubted very much that Xemnas would go as easy if it transpired that almost half of his coveted Organization were leaking information and plotting against him.

"Do you think he's realised that you lot aren't playing by the rules anymore?"

After a moment or so of silent thought; Axel shook his head, turning so as to face Cloud - there was no way any of the other members had figured out that much, Xigbar would have told Xemnas straight off, as would have Saix…Larxene would have used it as leverage…Vexen would have probably ratted on them by now, Lexaeus could know, but he would have probably reported to Xemnas regarding it…Luxord would have shoved it in one of their faces by now…Xaldin would have killed them already, either that or Xemnas would have.

"Nah - I'd be dead by now if they had, we all would. They don't know…but they're not letting us in on anything either, I know why Xemnas doesn't trust me or Roxas, but usually he would have filled in the founding members…but Zexion's as clueless as I am… … …I dunno, it's just weird."

Silence followed the young man's reasoning, all others lost within their own thoughts and musings…each person trying to desperately find logic behind these recent attacks, and more so; the eerie lull that had taken hold of Gaia in recent days, two weeks…two full weeks had passed since the last horrendous blow from the Remnants, the longest time-span that had elapsed between attacks since Sephiroth's return… … …heads immediately snapped around as the door to the study hall opened unexpectedly, to reveal a rather pissed-off looking Rufus ShinRa…

"Did Demyx come here?"

Axel smirked as he shook his head, Rufus must have pissed the blonde off again, it was unusual for Demyx to get pissed off, or be angry with anyone…but once you happened to do either to him; you were in for one hell of a ride! The nineteen-year-old knew how to bear a grudge, and wasn't afraid to do so either. All along in the Organization, and up until its' downfall two years ago, Demyx had been the pushover of the thirteen nobodies, easily defeated by word and weapon, and it hadn't been that the youth had been unable to hold his own in either - he had just simply allowed stuff to go over his head, he had never once shown himself to have a backbone within the Organization. That having been said; Axel had seen a change in his comrade lately, not while still within the walls of the stronghold in The World That Never Was, but in Gaia and other worlds; Demyx had become more observant in matters, and although he still preferred to walk away from a confrontation; he seemed to be showing more of himself as of late…

"Nope - he's still pissed at you all…well; apart from Cloud - the rest of you are in his bad books, got it memorized?!"

* * *

"_Danni - if I have to come up those stairs and drag you out of that bed; you__'__ll be the sorry one!__"_

Danni groaned lowly as her mother's voice rang out clear in her ears, the exact same call that had awoken her almost every morning at the same time with the last six years…how she had felt those years back upon being stirred from her sleep by her mother's voice…the surprise of finding herself back in her own bedroom in Gongaga as opposed to a sleeping quarters in ShinRa where she had fallen asleep… … …

"Mmmm…I'm comin' already…"

"Welcome back to the world of the conscious Danni…"

Within a split-second - amethyst irises had snapped open and a certain nineteen-year-old girl had found herself in an extremely unfamiliar place, with no recollection of how she had gotten there…but that man's voice had stirred many memories, with a face immediately coming to mind…Danni glanced around the room hastily as she attempted to stand from whatever bed she had been laying in, to be honest; not even she knew what she was trying to do.

"T…Tyler…how-where am I…"

"Slow it down Danni…"

Firm hands forced the youth to sit back on the side of her bed, though confusion still clouded her thoughts as her mind raced to figure out where she was and how she had gotten there, it looked like a room in a hospital, white walls were always a dead give away, and Tyler…if he was there, that could only mean -

"ShinRa…"

Tyler nodded slowly as the teenager once again attempted to stand, albeit this time making a step or two towards the door, the middle-aged doctor once again forced the youth to reseat herself upon the edge of her bed, his slate-grey irises boring into her like a drill as he spoke quietly, knowing that she was undoubtedly confused…but there was a lot of explaining to do, and certain things she needed to be filled in on…

"Danni…you're in ShinRa Head-Quarters in Edge, I've sent a message to The President, he'll be here soon. Two of ShinRa's allies found you…you've been here two weeks…"

Tyler glanced back over his shoulder as the door to the room opened, an action that succeeded in earning the first clear sentence spoken from Danni since she had woken up, as she instantly locked onto whom had entered the room;

"Don't come near me Rufus…I'm not staying here - I'm not gonna get cornered her again! I hate-"

Rufus smirked lightly as he cut the youth off…she hadn't changed much in six years, appearance-wise; she had matured greatly, but attitude-wise; she had remained the exact same. He had known her pretty well when she had been a kid, and he had grown pretty much accustomed to her personality, knowing how she worked…and knowing that there was only one way to make her realise the truth for once and for all, anyone listening would presume he was being cold-hearted, but unless she heard it this way; she wouldn't accept it…

"Where else are going to go Danni? Home - Gongaga is a smouldering ruin…_**one**_ wall of your home is still standing…you're one of a handful of survivors… … …"

Rufus paused as he noticed the youth's eyes…she knew that too, she just hadn't wanted to admit it to herself. And although part of him wanted to find out exactly how she had evaded ShinRa with so long, and how she and Angeal had even gotten away in the first place - he couldn't. Although she may have worked for his company while under his father's reign, she was still only a kid, and now a kid without a home or a place to go…

"Danni, I'm sorry to have to tell you this, but; your parents…they weren't found, it's believed that Shadow Creepers have -"

"_**Kadaj**_…"

Blonde eyebrows furrowed as a silent tear slid down the youth's face…he had never witnessed her cry before, that much he was certain of. He'd seen her curse, flip out, every other emotion under the sun and moon of Gaia, but Danni Fair had never cried, at least; not in front of anyone apart from her guardian. The company President immediately softened his approach to the situation, aware that she was the only connection and eye-witness of what had happened…

"Tell me what happened Danni…we need to know, think you can walk girl?"

* * *

"Well look who made a reappearance!"

"Fuck off Axel…"

Axel frowned slightly upon registering Demyx's words…he couldn't still have his knickers in a twist to that extent, could he? As if things weren't bad enough as matters stood; they now had a moody nobody to deal with…Xemnas was being a pain in the arse with his prolonged absences, Sephiroth and his three twerps of brothers were having a field day with Gaia as their playground, Heartless activity was up substantially - raising the query of whether they were still under the rule of The Organization or if a stronger power had made its' presence known…after all; the Heartless would ally with whoever was the strongest…

"Demyx - lighten the hell up, would ya?! We've enough shit to deal with right now, without you acting the cunt!"

Demyx merely shrugged and sat upon one of the free chairs, evidently not really caring what shit they had to deal with or not…if he wanted to be pissed off; then he'd be pissed off, whether it was suitable timing for the rest or not!

"The girl's awake, Rufus is bringing her here…now lighten the hell up!"

Demyx took a breath to respond to his fellow Organization member's statement, but was instantly cut off, as the door to the briefing hall opened once more…without thinking; the youth had looked up from where he'd been staring at the table before him, his emerald irises immediately locking onto the sight of a, rather shaken looking, young woman, though she still showed signs of injury; yellowish half-healed bruises, cuts and scrapes…but despite himself; Demyx smiled lightly, glad that she was okay for some odd and unfounded reason.

"I remember you…thank-you."

Danni smiled lightly as she directed her words towards the one person within the room that she recognised most prominently, she remembered his eyes…green, but not harsh…more like an ocean, one that possessed eternal depths and allowed you to become lost within… … …Rufus nodded lightly as he helped the girl over towards one of the chairs, having taken note of how she seemed to be favouring her left side whilst walking through the corridors, evidently having sustained injuries on the right side of her torso…

"Danni, can you explain what happened? We know the Remnants were behind this, but we want to know what happened from your point of view…"

The youth nodded as she sat down, taking a breath as she drew her knees up under her chin, feeling unusually vulnerable all of a sudden with the numerous pairs of eyes upon her, all watching and waiting, a few of which gave off the impression of mistrust and prejudice…Danni remained silent for a minute or two as she though back over everything she could remember, trying to make sense of the transpirations within her own mind, before allowing her mouth to say them…she kept her gaze fixed to the sleeve of the hoody she was wearing, having been given it by Tyler as she'd exited the medical wing, intently pulling and fidgeting with the sleeve as she began to talk slowly, still trying to make sense of it all as she did so…

"Mom called me to get up about ten…and it was freezing, I couldn't find my jeans for a few minutes…she laughed at me when I came down coz I'd been up late reading again… … …she was thinking about Zack again, she was gonna upset herself, so I told her to stop… … …she started talking about what happened in Banora…then Dad came in and we started slagging each other…I won… … …I went to make tea, but nearly passed out again, Mom helped me sit down…then nearly killed me when I stood up again, Dad only laughed at her… … …and then…then the Shadow Creepers came… … …"

Danni paused as she took a shaky breath, aware that her vision was blurring once more…guilt suddenly overwhelming her as she remembered the last words she had spoken to her parents; _you__'__re safe__… _- she had told them they'd be safe, but she'd lied…

"I told them they'd be safe…I told my Mom and Dad they'd be safe, but I lied - coz they're _**not**_ safe, they're _**not**_ okay…"

Tifa shook her head lightly as the new youth allowed several tears to fall onto her knees, still keeping her gaze fixed to where she was idly playing with her sleeve…it wasn't fair that she had to deal with all this - she was still only a kid, and a kid who now had to take onboard the fact that her home no longer existed, nor did her family…and yet all they did was stand there and watch her…no; she didn't care - so what if Danni was supposedly part of the hated experiment, right then and there; she was teenager with no where else to turn to… … …

"C'mere hunnie…take your time…it's not your fault, none of this is your fault hun, and don't think that it is…"

Danni hastily wiped the tears from her cheeks as slim arms rested around her shoulders, she didn't want sympathy, but for once in her life - she was grateful for it…

"I went outside and saw Shadow Creepers and Loz…he must have hit me with that thing on his arm…I remember my uncle pulling me up…then…Yazoo, he killed him… … …then Kadaj gave me a message…_Mother is coming; brother wants you to be on the right side of this battle; if you join us, you__'__re life will be spared in return for the cells you possess__…__if not; then your life__'__s forfeit - you__'__re choice really__…_I cursed at him… … …he cast a Materia blast at my home… … …then I remember a man, a man with black hair and blue eyes…then _**your**_ eyes."

For the first time that evening; Danni actually smiled, as did the person she had directed her last words towards, even though she was sore and emotionally hurt; she knew she had to deal with it, it could not be allowed to get in the way of other matters - it may have been a cold way to view matters; but it was the only way she knew how to deal with such things…but one thing was clear to her; someone would pay for all this.

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_**A/N; So - what did ye think huns? Thanks even if ye don't review!!**_


	6. Acceptance

**_A/N: Heya huns - this is really only a kinda filler chapter, after this one; where the original version of this started is gonna start, though with some changes, but the main idea will still be there!_**

"Why don't you trust me?"

The numerous people within the briefing hall, though their individual attentions had since deviated their own ways in the half an hour that had passed since Danni had finished explaining what she had witnessed transpire in her home town, immediately locked back onto the newest addition to the hall as her voice rang out above the murmer that had slowly grown… … …though it had been the youth to speak, it was clear to realise whom she had been addressing in her words…she had already glimpsed the distrust and wariness that were all too clear within his blue irises, but she at least had the right to know why. She knew his face, having glimpsed it a few times in the ShinRa database; Cid Highwind…a top-rate pilot, meant to be Gaia's first astronaut…before the funding was cut from the project anyhow… … …the rough-talking make merely shrugged as he averted his gaze, suddenly finding himself unwilling to hold the young female's stare…

"The J-Project doesn't exactly have a great track-record kiddo…"

A small smile spread across Danni's features as she registered the man's statement - it was more than true, a blind man could see the trail of destruction and pain caused by it all…but she refused to be labelled by it, not when she had done nothing to deserve such a stigma.

"And you think that I'm gonna end up like him… … …I hated him, we never got on, and I stress _**never**_…no matter what it was; SOLDIERs' standards had always been higher in his eyes, and I was never capable of reaching the height he set them - I understand perfectly well why you don't trust me, and if I was in your shoes, I probably wouldn't either… … …but my Mammy's name's Josey, not Jenova!"

Even cid had to crack a smirk as the youth stuck her tongue out, making light of the situation as she did so… … …Cloud shook his head as Danni smirked cheekily - unknowingly mimicking someone else's actions to an absolute tee…her smile seemed a direct reflection of who her brother was…or; had been. A minute or two passed as the blonde allowed his mind to flicker back upon the memory of a certain black-haired SOLDIER…but that's all it was; a _**memory**_… … …

"Danni…there's something you need to know…"

Even the tone of his voice gave away the look that must have been in his glowing irises…_**guilt**_… … …Over the next hour; Cloud, for the first time he could honestly recollect, recounted all that had transpired during his time at ShinRa…and all he could remember following the inevitable in Nibelheim - it seemed odd that all those happenings could possible be told in only that period of time, it seemed a drastically short slot to fit so much more into…but what else was there to say apart from what had happened? What was the point in saying it differently, what was the point - it wouldn't change the past…nothing would, and he had had to learn that the hard way, though it still brought nothing but guilt every time he looked back upon that time of his life, but that was just part of it, although he now knew the blame wasn't fully for him to bear, he willingly bore it…

Silence seemed to envelope the briefing hall as the blonde finished talking, none had, before, heard his full account of the matter, not even ShinRa knew what had happened from his point of view…kind of funny, in a sense, that they had never heard; considering that it had been them were literally responsible for the young SOLDIER's premature death…granted; Tseng and the Turks had strived to halt the troops, but it had still been ShinRa personnel who had pulled the innumerable triggers.

"I'm sorry…I don't know what else I'm supposed to say to you - I'm sorry…"

Danni nodded as she stood from her seat, choosing instead; to sit upon the table…as small smile still upon her face despite the hurt she felt in side… … …she had partly come to that conclusion a few years ago, seven years was along time for him to have been simply MIA, although, she had had to admit; she'd still clung onto the miniscule hope that, someday, her brother would find her again…but now she knew he never would. She wanted to breakdown and cry…Zack was her big brother, the one person on the planet of Gaia who was supposed to be immortal and always there…always there to help her up if she fell, always there to back her up in an argument, regardless of whether he had been knowingly backing the wrong side or not! H was the one person who was supposed to be there period, looking out for her…he had never kept a secret from his little sis - she had been the first person he had told about his girlfriend; Aerith… … …but she had kept one from him - and now she would never get the chance to tell him…Despite her wanting to, Danni refused to blame anyone…regardless of Cloud's willingness to bear the brunt of the blame, he wasn't the one who had caused it all… … …

"You shouldn't apologize for something you didn't do…I'm not gonna blame you, so you shouldn't blame yourself either."

"You grew up!"

All that could be done was to smile and shake heads in exasperation - of all the people in Gaia; Reno seemed to have the worst timing of them all…Axel merely rolled his acidic green irises towards the heaven's above - and people had the audacity to compare him to his brother at times! Sure; looks wise, it was more than obvious to see that the two of them were related…but he had seen too much to be as easy-going as his older brother - even upon meeting him again, it had taken the nobody a considerable amount of time to even register the fact that they were brothers, and it hadn't been for lack of memory - quiet the opposite in fact…in a way; it had been Reno's fault that he had become a nobody…he had spent years hating for it too, knowing that his own big brother, whom he had idolised as a kid, was the one responsible for Sector 7's collapse…for their mother's death, for every life that had been lost in that move of ShinRa's - and his brother had been the one who had carried out the order… … …hatred gave birth to darkness, the darkness had rested in his heart and called to other beings of the same element…the last thing that seemed to be burnt into his memory was being surrounded by black beings with bright yellow eyes - after that; Organization XIII… … …but times changed, and people had to also…he had learnt that the hard way, though still glad that he and his brother could now see eye to eye.

"Tends to happen Reno-"

"Still have the smart mouth!"

"What a shock - you don't!"

Reno grinned widely as Danni, for the second time that day, stuck her tongue out… … …she may have only done so due to being thankful for his change of subject - but he hadn't been lying when he had passed the remark about her having grown up…her view on matters seemed much more analystic…not to mention how her physical appearance had altered - she still possessed her ability at passing smark comments at lightning speed though!

Rufus shook his head lightly, pushing himself away from the wall, against which he had been leaning whilst silently observing, it had already turned dark outside, and without any lead as to where or when the next attack would be, they were simply wasting their time standing around, better to enjoy the lull while they could, even if they knew it would inevitably give way to something worse eventually - there was no point in sitting around waiting for the worst to happen while letting their lives pass them by…

"It's getting late…Danni, company sleeping quarters are the best I can offer, that or a staff apartment -"

"No…she's staying at Seventh Heaven, it's the least I owe…"

Danni smiled lightly as she glanced back towards the blonde, smirking as a memory shot to the fore of her thoughts…Cloud Strife…Zack had mentioned him a few times, mainly about the fact that they were both from the country, and how he was aspiring to make 1st Class… … …

"Y'know what Zack used to say when he was talking about you? He lives in a mountain village…_Nibil…Nimbl…Nabl - can't fucking say the word!"_

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**A/N: Thanks for reading huns!:-P**


	7. Introductions

**_A/N: Hi huns! Here's the latest chapter, and the result of my second job, sitting outside a room, doing nothing for up to three hours at a time - so my laptop is now my best buddy!:P_**

* * *

"Danni, your breakfasts on the table!"

"Coming now!"

Danni yawned quietly as she quickly scanned her room in search of her faded black hoody…it was all she had left of her home… … …two months had elapsed since she'd awoken to find herself in the ShinRa Headquarters' medical wing. In those two months, little, almost no new reports had been issued regarding Sephiroth or the three Remnants, many had begun to believe that the once-upon-a-time Hero had been defeated, after all; there were still two known 1st Class SOLDIERs MIA…that was nothing but foolish wishful thinking on the peoples part…she knew herself that Angeal and Genesis were still MIA, Genesis having disappeared several months before Angeal and her, between Sephiroth's disappearance and ShinRa itself, the red-coated 1st Class, had had enough of the monopolising and corrupt company, and had simply just not shown up one day…though she was sure he had said something to Angeal, Genesis hadn't been the kind of person who would have just upped and left without dropping the smallest of hints to his best friend… … …and as for her and Angeal, she didn't remember much from that night, only going to sleep early because she'd been ill, brought on by the Mako in her system being raised again, bringing on a minor form of mako poisoning…she kind of remembered Angeal waking her, but that memory was a blur…then waking up in her own bedroom in Gongaga, with her parents standing at her bedroom door… … …

"Gotcha!"

The young female smiled lightly as she pulled her hoody up from the ground, where it had been making its' way under her bed…yawning once again as she pulled it on over her head, catching her long ebony locks and slinging them up in a rough pony-tail as she did so…it was ten in the morning, meaning Denzel and Marlene were probably at school, Cloud on deliveries, and Tifa downstairs running the bar.

For the truth to be honestly told; it had taken Danni a while to settle into the household, she'd felt like an outsider and a nuisance to begin with, they'd all had their own lives and ways of getting through the day, and next of all she appeared, not willingly evidently, and had been thrown into the mix…but she had soon come to learn that the family at Seventh Heaven went far beyond those who dwelt in it, everyday you were likely to catch glimpses of AVALANCHE, ShinRa or WRO inside of the bar, along with customers and neighbours, all of which were welcome no matter what the hour…and that she had been stupid to assume that she wouldn't fit in, for they were all a family, and never a larger family of misfits had Gaia given birth to!

Danni paused at the top of the stairs as she finished tying up her hair, though she was positive some bits had escaped being bound up by the elastic-tie, she twisted slightly as she tried to put on the second one of her sneakers without opening the laces, knowing that if she did, she wouldn't have the patience to tie them back up again - for once; she actually saw the logic in Velcro straps! Another minute or so and the sneaker went on smoothly, only for the nineteen-year-old to trip headlong over Denzel's skateboard…the kid honestly didn't believe in putting his stuff away! He much preferred to leave them scattered throughout the house in a bid to create his own little obstacle course - or so; that was how it seemed!

The youth slowed slightly at the end of the stairs, her hearing having picked up on several unfamiliar voices…true; she had only been living at Seventh Heaven for two months, but it hadn't taken long to take note of the usual inhabitants, be they; ShinRa, WRO, AVALANCHE, or regular customers…but these voices were none of those…she'd never heard them before, it set her on edge slightly as she picked up on Demyx and Axel's unmistakeable voices in the mix… … …Danni silently grabbed the plate that Tifa had left on the kitchen table for her, and made her way to the door separating the bar from the house section of Seventh Heaven….still alert for the first sign of danger - she knew herself that she was more than likely over-reacting, but she couldn't help it…ever since what had happened in Gongaga, they had all been expecting trouble to leap out from any corner… … …without another though on the subject; she pushed the door inwards… … …

"Heads up at the door - oooh; too late!"

Axel hid a laugh as Danni suddenly found herself on her butt on the floor…as did Demyx - in all honesty, he could be as thick as two short planks of wood put together at times…it was still funny though, even he had to admit it! Danni had just walked in at the wrong time…though them knocking heads had looked painful…it was amusing to bear witness to how much more different the, usually, clueless blonde seemed to act when he was around the Gongaga-native, he wasn't as clumsy, or quiet…he smiled and laughed, taking part in the conversations, not afraid to point out his own point of view on the subject, as opposed to what he was usually like in the stronghold - keeping his mouth shut, keeping himself to himself…never one to argue his opinion…just let others go with theirs, even when he knew they were wrong… … …

"Sorry Danni…you okay?"

The nineteen-year-old nodded her head as someone helped her to her feet…smiling lightly as she thought of her own foolishness at jumping to conclusions - she smiled all the wider as she saw whom was pulling her to her feet…for some odd reason; she trusted Demyx more so than the others - for what reason; she honestly didn't know, but she just seemed more at ease with him… … …Danni allowed her smile to drop slightly as she glanced over Demyx's shoulder, to where Axel sat…along with three others that she had never seen before…they must have been the sources of the unfamiliar voices she had picked-up on just before entering the bar…

"Who're they?"

Demyx glanced back over his shoulder, then shook his head - numerous smart comments having sprung to mind as he'd glanced back towards the rest of the gang…it was the first time in a while that the five of them had been capable of leaving the stronghold at the one time, without raising suspicion…Danni was pretty much the only person who hadn't met the other three before, which meant; she was still oblivious to what they were; _**Nobodies**_… … …

"Danni - meet; Roxas, Marluxia, and Zexion…we're all Nobodies, and members of Organization XIII…"

A correct term for the look he received from the young woman, would be; _**what-the-fuck**_…but technically speaking, we shall leave it as; a confused glare… … …Danni shook her head as she tried to understand what Demyx may have meant to say, finding it somewhat, difficult to know what he had meant by _**nobodies**_…

"Come again?"

Several inhabitants of the bar, Tifa, Barrett, Cid, Shera, Yuffie, and even the enigmatic Vincent Valentine, all seemed to hide slight smirks as Danni voiced her eminent query…it had been confusing enough trying to explain it the first time to them…and had been twice as confusing trying to comprehend, but now to have to go through it again, they were just thankful that the task of explanation had not been placed upon their shoulders! Demyx sighed as he tried to explain the easiest way he knew possible…

"A person needs two elements to exist; a body, and; a heart. When a heart is overcome with darkness, it leaves the body behind and becomes a heartless…a being of darkness who's only desire is to track and capture hearts. When a heart gives way to becoming a heartless, the body left behind, more so; the consciousness left behind, begins to act on a will of it's own, it becomes a nobody. Only those, who possessed strong hearts originally, keep their basic appearance, with a few minor differences…we're all nobodies…all of Organization XIII is, none of us possess hearts, so none of us feel emotions…we're just nobodies… … …"

Silence followed his explanation…a silence that was contributed to by all inside the bar, mainly due to the accuracy of the, normally, inaccurate Demyx. But it was one of the most understandable, and straight-to-the-point, explanation that had been given to them, any of them.

Danni shook her head in disbelief, how was it possible for someone, who had become a good friend of hers, and whom she saw almost everyday, someone she had just knocked heads with - to be nothing? It just wasn't possible in her opinion…if she could touch it, see it, and be friends with it - then it was there, heart or no heart!

"Ah cut the bull - you're here, you all are…so how can you all be nothing? And look at it this way; if you are all actually nothing, then nothing must exist, which makes it something - so you're not nothing…and as for not being capable of emotions - I refuse to believe that, you have to feel something!"

"Well - ya just confused the hell outta me kid!"

At this, Danni allowed a grin to adorn her features for the first time that morning…though he had been the first person willing to leave her in Gongaga, so Yuffie had delighted in revealing to her, while having been shooting the chain-smoking pilot a deathly glare at the same time…Cid Highwind had proved to be a rather good slagging partner, not to mention a weird kind of uncle figure - the kind of uncle who was always there to listen, and get you into trouble at the same time!

"It's easy confuse an old man though Cid!"

"Brat!"

"Old fart!"

A light laugh went around the bar as the door was pushed inwards, revealing a seriously confused Cloud, having walked in just in time to catch the _**old fart **_comment being thrown across the bar…all the blonde hoped for; was that it wasn't meant to be directed towards him!

* * *

Danni hid a yawn behind her hand, whilst still gripping a dirty pint glass in it, as the last of the customers left the bar, and Cloud began to bolt the door shut, and do the same to the windows - shutting the hatches until early the next morning when the bar would be opened again…it had become, somewhat, of a routine; he bolted the windows and doors, while Tifa and herself cleaned up… … …she wasn't tired, at least she didn't think she was, yeah; she liked her sleep, but was never tired at night time…a slight throbbing was present in her head, but the young woman had just put that down to the whole; Nobodies and Heartless, explanation from earlier, something she still found hard to believe that those lads were…nothing. Even the look in Demyx's eyes was heart-wrenching as he'd explained…almost as if admitting to something horrific - but it just seemed stupid in her point of view… … …she had spent a good few hours hanging out with those five lads, granted; she had already known Axel and Demyx, but getting to know the other three hadn't been that bad; Roxas was, at first reserved, but the blonde had quickly come to show his true colours; passing smart comments, cracking jokes, and having a laugh…Marluxia had been a bit arrogant…that had been until she'd gotten pissed off of his demeanour and had seen fit to drop several ice-cubes down the back of his black coat, of which seemed to be a running thing with them all - she'd definitely nab one of them over it and query why the next time… … …and as for Zexion, he had been extremely silent, and had kept to himself, watching the actions of all the others…she'd felt a little awkward around him first of all, he always seemed to be watching them all, observing everything at once…but after a little bit; he'd talked, mainly just to contradict one of the others, or to point out something - looking rather smug as he had done so and all!

Danni sighed as she lifted her half filled tray of dirty glasses up from the table, heading to the next one to clean it off, and put the glasses in the dishwasher, then just the floor to sweep and mop…then all the jobs would be done for the night…

"_**Ahhh**_…"

The nineteen-year-old exclaimed sharply as a thundering headache reared up, closely followed by a sickening sensation in her stomach…a twisting pain…and harrowing unsteadiness… … …before even another sound could pass her lips - Danni felt herself falter as her vision went sideways for a stomach-turning second…but only until a hard edge had made forceful contact with the right-hand side of her temple…rendering the youth unconscious… … …

Tifa spun on heels as the relative silence of the bar was broken by the deafening shattering of a tray of glasses, within seconds; the female's wine-hued irises had landed upon where shards of glass seemed to litter the floor, then to the youth who had been carrying them - the mothering female felt her breath immediately catch in her throat, threatening to choke her… … …

"_**Danni**_!"

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_**A/N: So, any thoughts huns? Anyone know what happened Danni, anyone have any ideas even?:P Reviews would be appreciated huns, thank you!**_


	8. A Question

_**A/N: See huns - a quick update for a change!! I finish my second job tomorrow, so I'm going out tonight, and then after that; I can type to my hearts content!:P**_

* * *

"What happened to you?"

Danni shrugged lightly as she swung her legs back and forth, from where they over-hung the bed she was sitting on…she had opened her eyes to find Cloud standing over her, pulling her to her feet, as Tifa had already rang the ShinRa Headquarters…telling Rufus what had happened, despite the late hour, Rufus had still seen fit to have her checked over - something she hadn't wanted…the doctors' in Gongaga had not had the faintest clue of what was causing her dizzy spells - so why would anyone in Edge? That, and; she despised hospitals! And people making a fuss over here… … …

Tyler smiled lightly as he stood from his chair, knowing that the youth before him was just raring to get out of the medical wing, and back to Seventh Heaven…truth be told; her dislike of hospitals and medical centres was more than likely due to her past, she had been in the medical wing on more than several occasions in her younger years, mainly for Mako-Inducements, and for the treatment of minor Mako-poisoning…but she'd also had surgery just prior to Sephiroth's disappearance, she'd only been eight at the most…the child had been ill for most of the week, and yet her mentor had still seen fit for her to partake in training…needless to say; the girl had made more than her fair share of mistakes, which had only succeeded in causing her mentor to become angry and try her harder… … …Genesis had been the one to call a halt to the simulation after Danni had taken a bad blow…much to the chargrin of Sephiroth, whom had stated that unless she was capable of keeping up; then she had been nothing more than a failure… … …it was only once Genesis had signed the child into the medical wing that the true implications of her injury had been discovered…her shoulder blades had been broken, causing heavy internal bleeding… … …

"Tifa said you passed out…"

The young woman winced slightly as Tyler began cleaning up the gash she had rent herself with upon colliding with the corner of one of the tables…it stung like hell!

"Kinda…I got a really bad headache, then I felt sick…then dizzy, I lost my balance…but I think it was the table on the way down that did the damage, in all fairness…"

A small laugh escaped the middle-aged male's lips as he registered her words, true, but smart at the same time. It was good to see her finally showing her true colours, for the first month, the teenager had hardly spoken two words to anyone, apart from Demyx that was, but he had simply put that down to them being the same age, and the blonde having been the one to defend her…but as of late; the rest had been greeted with the real Danni - smart-mouthed, hard-working, and an impressive vocabulary of swear words!

"Has this happened before?"

"Uhh - again; kinda… … …I never hurt myself like this before, but the dizziness and feeling like throwing-up used to happen in Gongaga…the doctors didn't really have an iota, so they put it down to hormones coz it always seems to hit at the wrong time of the month… … …"

A slight silence seemed to envelop the examination room as Tyler furrowed his eyebrows, evidently having realised something, and yet; felt a bit wary of telling the teenager…literally; every other SOLDIER had been male, up through all the classes, no females had made the cut…one could only fathom that that had been ShinRa's purpose for Danni, to see how the J-Project would react with a female…Hojo, along with the old President, had both been warned by all the medical staff against using a child, but more-so; a female…the bodies of the two different sexes worked differently, developed differently, and matured differently…just because such an experiment had been, as Hojo had called it; a success, on Sephiroth, and the G-Project successful on Genesis and Angeal - it did not directly ensure that the same results would have been reaped when a female was used as a test subject - _**test subject**_…how a man could look at an infant, and refer to her as nothing more than a test subject, was beyond him…it was inhuman.

"I know the core cause…it was why a lot of the medical staff opposed the idea of a female SOLDIER…your body loses blood every month for a period of time-"

Danni felt her eyes snap up as she sensed where this explanation was going - there was one simple, golden rule, that existed when approaching that subject in particular - boys; just don't go there!

"Hold up - I got this talk from my Mother when I was thirteen - I _**soooo**_ don't need it from you!"

Tyler simply raised his hands in a surrendering motion, as a small smile still remained on his face - he hadn't planned on talking to her about what her mother may have informed her of in relation to her body…he just hadn't gotten enough time to explain what he had meant to!

"Danni - let me finish explaining first…when your body loses blood, the Mako in your system becomes greater, and causes, like when you were little, bouts of poisoning, that's what the dizzy spells are, and why you feel sick at times…"

The nineteen-year-old, nodded slightly as she registered the cause of her ailment…yeah; great and all, they knew what was causing it - but that didn't help with it…she didn't really mind anyhow, she'd gotten used to it, just not the banging off of the table edge thing - that had been sore!

"Okay - but what do I do about it?"

"Stay away from tables for a start…just watch yourself Danni, if I can; I'll try and get a prescription through the company for tablets…but until then; just try and take it easy…"

Danni laughed lightly as she halted swinging her feet, instead; choosing to stand from the bed, seeing no further reason as to why she should remain there; her gash had been cleaned and treated, and her problem solved - so she could go…she just wanted to go back to her bed and fall asleep… … …

"Can I go Tyler?"

"Where are they Danni? Angeal and Genesis - what happened to them?"

The whole room seemed to grow all that more smaller, as the air within froze…the youth refused to turn around, from where she stood with on of her hands placed on the door handle of the door…how she wished she knew the answer to that question…Genesis had gone MIA before her and Angeal, and she didn't blame him either - the walls had been closing in on them all, so the choice had been to fly or stay and be imprisoned for the rest of their days - she'd seen him before he'd left, he'd been talking to Angeal, probably explaining the reasons behind his actions, but she had only been a child, and hadn't realised that the smile he gave her, along with the uncharacteristic hug - had been a goodbye… … …Angeal had been like a second father to her, as much family as any blood relation, he had been the one person she had always ran to…he'd always been there for her, ready to comfort or chastise… … …and she missed him so much it hurt - the rest of her family had been killed, **_murdered _**- her mother, her father, her uncle...even her big brother ... ... ...Angeal was all she had left, and he wasn't there either… … …

"If I knew, I'd tell you Tyler…but I don't, and it's killing me… … …"

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**_A/N; Thanks a million to Fallen Angel - XIV, and Remnant of VII for the reviews, and of course; Jeanneandheralters with her warnings against sharp objects - thanks huns, it's appreciated! _**


	9. Student Vs Mentor

_**A/N: Hi huns, this is a long enough chapter, I didn't really notice the length of it till I'd finished it, but I didn't want to split it...hope ye like!**_

* * *

Danni hid a yawn behind her hand as she entered the bar, cringing lightly as a stinging pain emanated from just above her eyebrow, where a fresh gash was more than present…two days had elapsed since her night-time to the ShinRa medical-wing, the wound had healed somewhat, but it still hurt, even more-so now as the bruising was at its' worst… … …

"Geez - who hit ya kiddo?!"

A small smile lightened the youth's face as she registered that rough voice…figures that he would have been the first to pick up on the injury - though she only wished she could truthfully say that it had been gained in a decent way, as opposed to the corner of a wooden table, it was slightly embarrassing to have to admit that an inanimate object beat her!

"Got in a fight with the table your sitting at Cid - it won and all…I'll get it next time though, a chainsaw!"

"Shut up Roxas - it's none of your business even if I do!"

Danni blinked several times as a black portal materialized before her, five youths walking out through it - granted, the first few times they had used those black portals, it had confused her greatly, but now it was just one of their things, apparently it had something to do with them being Nobodies - of which she still refused to believe in its' whole… … …the youth smiled as she recognised the most prominent of the voices, the one whom had been giving out to Roxas, Roxas did seem to be giving him a going-over as of late…

"What's he sayin this time?"

To her surprise, it was Roxas who attempted to answer her query, albeit; very willingly…he had come to prove himself as, somewhat, of a trouble-maker within the group…but at least he proved to be a laugh!

"I was just asking Demyx if he would go out w - **_Ahh_**! Now **_that_** was uncalled for!"

Roxas continued to curse beneath his breath as he rubbed his right arm, having evidently received a blow there…it seemed whatever the youngest of the nobodies whished on saying, was not in agreement with Demyx - still though; it only served to make someone twice as curious as before to find out what it was the blonde had been intent on saying… … …Danni smiled as she spotted the perfect spy…

"Marlene, c'mere for a minute hun…"

The nine-year-old girl nodded her head as she ran over towards the older girl, whom she had come to view as an aunt figure over the months that had transpired since Cloud and Tifa had brought her back to, telling her and Denzel that Danni would be living with them because her home had been destroyed, and she'd gotten hurt… … …she'd been quiet to begin with, but Danni was Danni - and fun to have around..

"Can you do me a little favour… … …Roxas is slagging Demyx over something, can you find out what hun?"

A mere smile and a little nod was all that met her as a response before the little girl ran back to where she had been sitting upon Barrett's knee…she knew it may have been slightly rude to do so, but curiosity had gotten the better of her regarding Barrett and Marlene's relationship, so she had asked the one person she had known would answer her truthfully…Demyx had explained all that he'd been told of Dyne and Barrett's friendship and his promise to care for Marlene…

"Beat by a table yo…now that's embarrassing! SOLDIER VS immobile object…oh the _**shame**_!"

A laugh went around the bar as Reno's words broke the slight silence that had enveloped the establishment - though one had to admit it; the Turk made for a good argument!

"Funny Reno - keep it up and we'll see who wins with SOLDIER Vs Turk!"

"Mind the table there Danni…"

The youth shook her head and grinned as she registered Cloud's voice…they were all against her now! She complied all the same, in a rather exaggerated fashion at that…making a wide berth around the edge of the near-by table and hopping up onto the bar's counter…smiling as her feet swung back and forth several inches above the ground…it was days like this that were the best, most of the gang were in Seventh Heaven and it was just a big laugh… … …

Danni felt her irises shoot wide as a chillingly familiar sound broke the humorous air of the bar…a screech, a blood-thirsty screech that made all hearing it aware of its' arrival… … …the youth snapped her head up instantly as another screech answered the first, raising into a chorus as screams of unsuspecting civilians entered the horrid mix… … …within seconds, the teenager had brought her amethyst eyes up to meet glowing cerulean ones as she sensed something, a fore-boding sensation deep within her being… … …

"Not again…Cloud - _**he's**_ here!"

The result was almost instantaneous, everybody was on their feet, Rufus contacting The WRO, Cloud holstering The First Tsurugi…all had seen what the heartache that had been caused in Gongaga to allow such a fate to befall the city they had, literally, built with their own hands, they wouldn't allow it happen!

"Denzel, stay here and watch Marlene…you too Danni-"

Cloud was cut short as a hand gripped his arm tightly…he glanced back to see a steely stare holding his eyes…she was coming, he could see it in her eyes, he didn't want her to go, Kadaj had tried to kill her, Sephiroth was after her…but above all that; she was Zack's little sister, he felt it his responsibility to ensure her safety… … …

"I'm coming…whether you allow me to or not Cloud, I'm no kid, I'm not gonna stay here while you lot all go!"

All he could do was nod, and consent to her choice…there would be no point in arguing with her, he wouldn't win…she was like her brother in that sense, it may not have been the best option, but through hell and high water, she was going to stick by it… … …

"Go with Demyx and the others…we'll head now…be careful Danni."

And with that, the bar bore witness to a mass exodus, Denzel brought his younger sister upstairs, the two of them probably glancing out their bedroom window at that moment in time, already waiting for the safe return of their guardians… … …

"Danni…let's go - stay close to us when you walk through the portal, there'll be a sort of corridor, with another portal at the end, if you get separated from us, the Dusks'll corner you, if you stay with us, they'll act on our orders…got it memorized?"

Danni nodded, although hardly understanding what was meant by the words Axel had hastily spoken her way, whilst opening a portal…she hadn't even a clue what the hell a _**dusk**_ was - wasn't that the time before nightfall? Still, they were the ones capable of creating these portals, so therefore, they were the ones who knew about what would happen when she walked through one of them… … …Zexion shook his head as he stalled just before walking through the portal, having been about the only person to pick up on the fact that Danni had absolutely no iota of what a Dusk was, or what would actually happen when a person possessing a heart walked through on of the portals, the Dusks would automatically hone in on her… … …

"Demyx, stay with her, get to the exit portal, don't stop - we'll deal with the Dusks…"

Without any further stalling, Danni nodded her head and walked straight for the wisping portal before her, sensing Demyx's taller frame behind her, following the orders of the older black-clad youth, whom seemed to bear some sort of superiority over the five of them… … …

"Oh - _**crap**_…"

Danni halted as she heard Marluxia's words…they definitely didn't sound good, she glanced around hastily as she sensed something not being right - countless white beings crowded the abnormal corridor-like place, all dancing in place as they surrounded the six youths… … …Zexion shook his head as he registered the sheer amount of Dusks, they didn't have time for this, the others had probably already engaged themselves in fights, and they were still here - time was of the essence, and right then, they were wasting it.

"Axel, block them off - Demyx get to the portal now!"

Danni watched on in slight confusion as a wall of flames sprouted up on either side of her, separating them from those white creatures, but she got to watch no more, as several of the disturbing beings broke through; Demyx pushed her ahead of him, leaving the beings to the other four…

"Demyx - what about-"

"Just move Danni! If Xemnas realises the Dusks are after someone in here, he'll think Sora and he's gonna show up, and we'll all be in deep shit - he'll fucking kill Roxas and Axel, no questions asked!"

That was more than enough persuasion for the nineteen-year-old to do as told, albeit hesitantly as she glanced back over her shoulder, only to be pulled forwards as Demyx grabbed her by the wrist and made straight for the portal ahead… … …

It took only minutes for the two of them to reach, and get through the other portal - Danni shook her head, smiling ever so slightly as she caught the older lad's eye as the other four exited the portal behind them…all of them out of breath somewhat…

"Okay - okay…I _**think**_ I know what Dusks are now… … …don't look at me like that!"

It was all he could do not to burst out laughing, of all the things she could have said, she had chosen the most bluntly obvious! Still though, the comical relief was greatly appreciated…

"Next time - you go with the rest!"

Even she had to smile at that comment - she would _**definitely**_ question them lot on the true workings of "Organization XIII" when they got back to Seventh Heaven - a lengthy list of questions had already formulated in her head - who the hell was Xemnas anyhow?! Danni took a breath to ask the query, but halted as a shadow passed over head - she glanced up immediately, already knowing what was going to meet her gaze…him… … …

"_**Cloud**_!"

The blonde turned upon hearing his name being shouted, but he was already too late - it was all he could do to bring his core blade up in time enough to parry the, already, too close for comfort, blow…albeit being thrown back with exceptional force as a result of the close parry, only to collide forcefully with a steal construction beam…the male landed heavily upon the ground, evidently knocked out… … …it took only seconds for AVALANCHE to realise what had transpired…and whom, had introduced himself to the fight… … …

"Nice to see you again, Cloud…"

Danni glanced around hastily as she realised she'd have to do something, she knew what Sephiroth was capable of doing, Cloud could hold his own with him - but the others couldn't…the youth took little less than a second or two to decide upon her actions - reclaiming the blade Cloud had dropped, along with several small stones, knowing the one thing that would annoy the hell out of her past mentor…the youth let loose with one of the stones she had picked up, hitting her intended target dead on… … …the reaction she received proved to be one of instinct - a reflex reply, born of habit years ago;

"I have warned you beforehand Danielle - do _**not**_ throw stones at me!"

Although he had not thought before allowing the words to leave his mouth, Sephiroth allowed a smirk to adorn his lips as he turned, his jade irises coming to rest upon the figure of a young woman gripping Cloud's core blade, the man remained silent as he took in her features; cascading ebony locks, tied back into a pony-tail, piercing amethyst irises…though the years had matured her greatly, he still recognised that cheekiness in her eyes, the retort on the tip of her tongue, almost begging to be said…

"I was under the impression my brother had eliminated you in Gongaga… … …you stand by the decision you gave him I presume? Regardless of what happened to you?"

"Ahhh…"

Cloud groaned as he reclaimed his footing, albeit; now with a dull ache, throbbing constantly at the back of his head, compliments of the large lump that had materialized there thanks to his collision with the construction beam…within seconds; his sights came to focus upon who was now wielding his blade…

"You ordered that attack on my home - you killed my family! You're brain-dead if you think I'm _**ever**_ going to side with you - _**sir**_… … …"

The sarcasm, of which she had spoken the last word with, was thick enough for all within hearing distance, to pick up upon…none could blame her for such bold words either, her home had been destroyed before her, her family ripped away from her - and then he had the audacity to speak to her so casually and matter-of-factly…it was enough to make any of their blood boil if they had been in her situation, but none were, and none wished to be either. Danni smirked slightly as she noticed something flicker within the male's eyes, she knew that look all to well, having bore witness to it on several occasions during training, especially when it had been her who had usually caused such an emotion to surface within, the usual, cold individual…_**anger**_.

"Awww, what's the matter? Am I pissing you off again? And the name's Danni!"

The ex-General shook his head as he walked forwards, at a slow pace, allowing his masamune to grate the ground menacingly as he directed his full attention to the youth before him, anger already rising rapidly inside of him - she had been a brat, and that at the best of times, she had never taken any of their training simulations seriously…why Genesis had been fond of the child, he would honestly never be capable of fathoming, Angeal - though he had taken great pride in his rank, he'd had a soft heart - something that was a great weakness for a SOLDIER to have… … …

"Yes, you are…you never did know when to stop, did you..._**Danielle**_?"

Danni cringed somewhat, at the use of her full name - she hated it! It had always been Danni, and always would be, regardless of how many times he had called her by full name…still though, she was riling him, something she had always taken great pleasure in, regardless of the dangers of doing so - but at least this way; he was taking it out on her, not any of the others…

"Oh, I did…I just chose not to - watching you get angry with me was the only entertainment in ShinRa! You took everything away from me! Everything that had taken me most of my life to get - I'll never forgive you! You bastard!"

A mere smile adorned The Nightmare's lips as he halted his approach, taking in all the words and insults that had just been shouted his way…in a sense; it was amusing. She was the same as him…he had seen her files, he'd seen the two of them had been subjected to the same experiment…they had the same mother, and yet she still chose the inferior side…the dying side of the fight, stupidity of young years he guessed - maybe it may have been hasty of him to order her life forfeit to his offer…eventually; she would see sense, and if not; then perish along with all those she sided with… … …

"Have it your way then…Danni!"

The echoing sound of clashing metal filled the air as Danni brought up the hefty blade in her grip, halting the fall of the, contrasting, elongated sword, down on top of her…there was no way in all of hell that she was going to give him the pleasure of seeing her blood spilt too! He had too many wrongs to pay for!

"Not bad…maybe you did pay attention after all…"

Danni clenched her teeth tight as she pushed forward into the clash, unwilling to relent, she was pissed off, though she knew better than to allow her emotions free range, they all to often proved to be a person's downfall…but she couldn't help it on this occasion.

"More than you know!"

Sephiroth blinked back his slight surprise as his past-pupil separated the clash, only to clash forcefully once more…she was pissed off and full of anger, all of which were clearly seen within her eyes, but the question remained - could she really hold her own? It looked as if it was time to find out…the ex-General held nothing back as he parried one of the female's blows, catching her off guard with a meaningful kick to the ribs… … …Danni gasped silently as she felt herself skid backwards along the pavement, she'd left her guard down - she deserved the blow for that…the young woman bit down hard on the insides of her cheeks as she flipped herself over, instantly regaining her feet and bringing up the blade in her grip, wincing as pain flared into life, emanating from her ribs… … …within seconds, she felt herself acting on instructions, ones that had been drilled into her head from years before…_keep your guard up…look for openings…use your opponents strength to your advantage…impair balance…do not underestimate… … …_a smile lit up Danni's face ever-so-slightly as she took stock of her position; she had already allowed her guard to drop, and received a sanction for doing so, ensuring it was the first and last time she was going to allow herself to do so…her eyes immediately watched each of Sephiroth's movements, noting each of his blows and looking for openings, in order to land a blow…he was stronger than her, that much was more than evident, whether she did in-fact possess the skills to match him or not, his strength was far more than hers, he was bigger than her…but that made no difference… … …

"Opening - right side!"

This time it was Sephiroth who bore the brunt of an unintentionally lowered guard - it seems he had made one of the most basic rules of combat - do not underestimate you opponent…and now he had earned an aching jaw for his basic mistake… … …in a split second, the male had recovered from the surprise blow, this time determined to teach the girl a lesson - but despite his iron-will, for every blow he dealt, she blocked, and for ever blow he landed, he received a venomous one in return…proving, that contradict to his beliefs, the youth had been learning all those years ago… … …

* * *

"Yuffie girl, behind ya!"

Yuffie spun, almost instantly, upon hearing Cid's shout, albeit; she had acted only seconds too late, the Shadow Creeper was already, literally, inches from her…though she should not have done so, the heir to Wutai snapped her eyes shut, knowing that she had acted too late…all she could do was raise one of her arms in a weak form of defence, and brace herself for the imminent impact… … …but to her relief, and surprise - the impact never came…after several seconds, the young woman cracked open her dark brown irises, only for them to fall upon the frame of a man standing in front of her, katana in hand, evidently having defeated the Shadow Creeper with it - but one question was burning brightly in her mind, though she was more than thankful to this man, who he was seemed to be an utter mystery…

"Are you alright?"

A mere nod was all the female could muster as the man helped her to her feet, her eyes trained onto his face, taking in every feature in an attempt to match it to a memory…he appeared to be in his mid to late thirties, with black hair and piercing blue eyes, that seemed to glow as she looked into them… … …but it seems that even though the Wutain woman was incapable of recognising the man, someone else knew him only too well - Rufus smirked as he looked the man up and down, whilst shaking his head, somewhat taken aback by his sudden reappearance…six long years had passed since he had been sighted, he had been the person responsible for Danni's return to her hometown… … …

"Well this is unexpected, I'll give you that much…Angeal Hewley, SOLDIER 1st Class."

An acknowledging nod met the company owner's words, though no real attention was given along with the motion, Angeal having already released Yuffie and scanned the small group, evidently looking for a person in particular, though not seeing her…

"Where's Danni?"

"Hmm-hmm…with brother…"

Angeal spun on his heel as Yazoo's words gave way to two audible gunshots…of which were closely followed by clear, piercing ping as one of the bullets ricocheted off of a metallic surface…but it seemed the second bullet found it's intended target as a gasp was heard - immediately followed by the noisy clang of a dropped blade… … …

* * *

Danni cringed as she felt her knees slam against the cold, and uncaring pavement, she had stood upon only moments prior…she was in a bad position - she had unintentionally allowed Cloud's sword to fall from her grip, it had been a reflex action when the bullet had struck her abdomen, and now she was on her knees, with one arm supporting her frame, the other wrapped tightly across her lower torso as a deep crimson liquid began to seep out through her white tank top… … …

"I will give you another chance Danni - join me…our mother shall rise once more…"

"Don't you _**ever**_ refer to Jenova as my mother - she's a monster - a calamity - and you're the same as her!"

Sephiroth inclined his head ever-so-slightly upon hearing the youth's statement…her mouth had always been to big for her own good, he'd seen that even in her younger years, and even now, in retrospect of what had happened to her upon refusing his offer, she still chose to be stubborn headed and disrespectful towards him - it made one question if she did, in-fact, have any sense. Still though, she would either be an ally or a thorn in his side, and it seemed she had chosen which one herself…and so the thorn had to be extracted - not even one word did the once-upon-a-time hero utter as he brought down the elongated sword he wielded, intent on delivering the final blow… … …the only move the teenager made, was to clamp her alluring irises shut, not wanting to give her ex-mentor the satisfaction of seeing the slight fear present within them…no way would she allow him that pleasure - but what neither person had been expecting, had been for the feared, and yet revered, masamune to be halted mid-blow by the same blade she had dropped… … …

"Angeal… … …this fight is far from finished Danni."

Several stony seconds seemed to tick by as The Nightmare and his brothers departed…leaving the gang in a stunned silence as they tried to understand what had actually transpired in the short time period…but, despite their confusion, one thing was more than obvious; if not for the unsuspected arrival of this SOLDIER, both Danni and Yuffie would be dead right then, although, one did look a lot worse for wear and in need of medical attention fairly rapidly… … …

"Angeal…but - _**how**_?"

The experienced SOLDIER shook his head, as he released Cloud's blade from his grip, and turning to face the young woman, whom was still situated on the pavement, having changed her position to sitting on her butt, one arm still wrapped firmly across her torso, a look of utter confusion and relief crossing her features, along with evident pain…

"I'll explain later, you need medical treatment firs-"

"No…it's a minor wound, the bullet caught my side, it's nothing major… … …and I'm not moving another inch until I get a decent explanation Angeal! Why did you leave me?! You never even said goodbye - Angeal, answer me!"

Shame was one way of explaining the sensation that seemed to grow from the very pits of his stomach all of a shot…she had only been a little kid, she had deserved an explanation, instead of waking up at her home, never knowing how she had gotten there or gotten a chance to say goodbye…she wasn't that little kid anymore though, she was a young woman…and this time; had a right to an explanation, regardless of his feelings towards the subject…that, and he knew only too well of how stubborn she was capable of being, in similar situations. And judging by the mood she was in, she would rather sit there and bleed to death, rather than relent… … …Danni bit down hard on her tongue as she struggled to her feet, stifling a gasp as she did so…after a few seconds, the youth brought her gaze up to meet that of the only person she had left…realization suddenly dawning on her as his piercing blue irises returned her stare;

"You were there - in Gongaga, you pulled me from the rubble, you set me out in the open for Demyx to find…it _**was**_ you Angeal, wasn't it… … …why didn't you help! Why weren't you there earlier! Why did you let it happen - damn it Angeal, answer me!"

The SOLDIER remained silent as he caught the young woman's wrist, preventing her from landing another grief-fuelled thump, slightly puzzled by the anger of her words…he had arrived too late to make a change, the Remnants had already departed when he had arrived, Gongaga had been beyond help the moment the first Shadow Creeper had been unleashed upon it… … …doomed from the start, none of the towns people had been experienced in defending against such beasts, and none had been expecting for an attack to take place in Gongaga… … … he understood why she was upset, for truth to be told, his heart had been saddened greatly by the happenings also; he had searched everywhere for Josey and Nick…but not a trace of either friends had been found, for that; he was truly sorry for the youth, she had been taken from her parents so often, and now for them to be permanently taken away from her… … …After several seconds of pathetic struggling, Danni finally broke down, tears broke their banks as she met her mentor's gaze… … …

"My Mom and Dad, Angeal…they're gone…"

He sighed as he pulled the youth into a tight hug, grateful for her relative safety…and glad that his decision for ShinRa to take her to Edge had been a just one, if not; she would have been killed in Gongaga also…but now, suddenly aware of how much she had had to take in and deal with as of late…it wasn't fair, but then again; life could be the cruellest of judges when it wanted to be…Angeal spoke lowly as the teenager cried…

"I know, Danni…I know… … …I tried to get there sooner, but I couldn't, by the time I arrived, Kadaj and the others had left, there was nothing I could do… … …where's your brother?"

Speech seemed to become impossible for her, a lump had formed in her throat, and it wouldn't allow words to pass…Danni swallowed back hard as she reclaimed some self-control…she was relieved on so many levels, and yet heart-broken on so many more at the same time, everyone else in her life was gone, he was all she had left…but at least he was okay, he wasn't hurt…or dead, like the rest of the people she loved were…but; Zack…he was gone to, he was dead too…he'd been shot down, KIA - killed in action, more like murdered! But she couldn't get angry at Rufus because of it, it had been his father…

"A…Angeal - Zack's d-… … …Zack - he's _**dead**_…he was shot down… … …you're all I have left, please don't leave me too, Angeal?"

It felt, almost, like a kick to the stomach…Zack - dead…it had to be a joke of some sick sort…Zack had been to full of life to be killed, always joking and taking things in his stride, how on Gaia could the youngster have gotten himself killed? Sure, he had taken stuff light-heartedly, but Zack had taken great pride in his rank and work… … …dead… … …it all made sense, why Danni had been angry with him - everyone else was gone…he had promised to take care of her all those years ago, and he'd left her in Gongaga, assuming that ShinRa would bring her back to Edge, of which he had been correct in assuming, but he had also made the assumption that her older brother was still under contract with ShinRa, that he'd be there for his little sister… … …

"I won't Danni…I promise…"

* * *

**_A/N: Reviews would be highly appreciated for this chapter huns...thanks for reading!_**


	10. Grief

_**A/N: I know it's been a while, okay, longer than a while, since I've updated anything, I kinda had writer's block on two fics, but at least I got this one going again,lol!**_

* * *

"So…why now? Why come back now - after everything that has happened, all the times in the past when we were in need of SOLDIER, why chose now, above those times, to make your presence known?"

It was the question that had been on all their minds since they'd arrived back at the bar, and dealt with all the injuries - and with due reason too. Years had elapsed since the collapse of SOLDIER, and in those years; the existence of Gaia, had been threatened numerous times - it's people terrorized repeatedly, and throughout those years, never one had a member of the, one-fabled, SOLDIER-force, stepped forward to defend the planet - stepped forward to defend their honour! So what made things so different this time? What set the stakes so much higher this time, that it forced previously MIA SOLDIERs to reappear, and take a stand?

"When MeteorFall came, we had only just deserted, and were not about to be drawn back into a battle we had run from…when The Remnants ran riot - Geostigma got in the way…but now there is no excuse, we are acting as single force once more."

It was only as the former 1st Class ended his sentence, did the company-owner notice something, the repeated use of one word in particular, and it was this word in particular, that had caused several people to look up, but it was only the head of ShinRa that voiced the imminent query;

"We…who's _**we**_ exactly?"

Angeal smirked as he stood, having grown tired from the numerous pairs of irises, that had all been trained upon him. Things were different this time, a lot different in fact. Previously, when the planet had been threatened, only AVALANCHE, and ShinRa had stood forward to protect it - though; even when they had, they had only succeeded by the skin of their teeth, and actually failed the last time, thus, leading to where they were right then…living in fear of random and imminent attacks - life wasn't supposed to be like that, to constantly be on edge, looking over your shoulder…that wasn't living, that was nothing. But things were going to change, six years ago saw the collapse of SOLDIER, and ShinRa, Sephiroth had almost won in his ambition to destroy Gaia…maybe things would have played out differently if the SOLDIERs had stood on the front line back then, but then again, maybe things would have ended the same… … …one would never know for sure - six years ago; the people of Midgar and the company of ShinRa, saw the mass desertion of the entire SOLDIER-Force, Genesis had been the first to go MIA, along with dozens of 2nd and 3rd Classes, shortly after that, both; he and Danni, had left, accompanied by all those who bore the rank of SOLDIER - all personnel with such a rank followed, in one night; a whole force had disappeared without a trace…and never once in the six years, since the mass-exodus, had a SOLDIER been seen, until now. The force of SOLDIER, was once again needed - and they were here this time, and ready to protect their honour!

"_**We**_…are SOLDIER. Things are different this time - because you failed, which has given the SOLDIER-Force no other option, _**but**_ to step forward, to force the return of SOLDIER."

Danni hid a smile behind her hand as she stood, relishing in the fact that he hadn't changed one bit…as duty-driven as ever, and not one bit afraid to point out the blatantly obvious. But, if she had picked up correctly on his words; then they were talking about an entire force, not just the few 1st Classes - but that was hardly possible, was it? Could they actually stand a chance this time? Or was it just one of his speeches again…she was _**so**_ not in the mood for one of those lectures, it wasn't that they were uninspiring, nothing like that actually, it was just…they were always the same! Over and over again! Still though - it was trait of his that no one would trade for all of Gaia…the spiritual leader of SOLDIER…everything was falling into place now, if Angeal's words were true, then there was a decent and worthy force for Sephiroth and his cohorts to contend with, and with the luck of Minerva on their side, then maybe they could put an end to this ever-returning Nightmare? The looks of shock, and utter amazement upon the faces of those she had come to love as her family…that's all they wanted, a chance at a life without fighting…a chance to live - which they all deserved, they all _**definitely**_ deserved it! But, for truth to be told, she really didn't feel like sitting in a room, filled with optimism and hope…when the fact that her own little life, had come crashing down around her, had reared its' ugly head once more - she needed to get out of the bar… … …

It was only as the sound of a motorcycle peeling away from the bar, did anyone notice the lack of a certain person, Danni was gone…Angeal sighed as he turned, instantly heading for the door of the bar, slowing only slightly as a voice broke the silence, Cloud's voice…evidently having noticed the youth's disappearance before most of them, and knowing where she would go…

"There's a bluff over-looking the ruins of Midgar, she's gone there…"

* * *

It had only taken fifteen minutes, twenty at the most, for her to arrive there…Cloud had showed her the several days after she'd moved into Seventh Heaven, she knew in her own mind, that it was only for comforts' sake that she came here, only for her sake really. But it was different today, all those other days, she'd come here to think, to relax, to talk - but not today, not with her heart so torn, it threatened to be rent in two…she didn't even make it to the erect blade, pain, exhaustion…and grief, all overwhelmed her. Danni bit back in pure frustration as the barren, and dusty, ground sent her knee-caps smarting…a particularly sharp rock had ripped the knee of her jeans, dragging a small ravine of red across the flesh of exposed left knee - it stung, it stung like hell…but it didn't mean anything, thanks to the Mako in her system, it would be gone in a day or so…_why didn't I ever tell him? _That was the thought that was killing her, her big brother, whom she had idolised, had died, under the impression; that his little sister had been at school, every single time she'd been absent - it had all been a like, a huge fucking lie of a life, and now she'd never get to tell him the truth…_**never**_.

"I'm sorry…Zack - I'm sorry!"

This time; it was the skin of her right fist, to bear the brunt of a forceful impact, though she had meant to do so - anything, even if it hurt, was better then the grief that was consuming her - she didn't want to give into it, and she had kept it at bay for two months, but now the dams were cracked…and each crack was growing and joining with another, compromising it's impenetrable structure all the more - until, it gave way… … …

"I hate it - _**I hate it all Zack!**_ I hate him…I hate him so much - Gongaga…Mom…Dad…you - it's all gone, _**and it's all his fucking fault! I hate him!"**_

That stupid lump had formed again, the one that literally chocked you until you painfully swallowed it…and even then it still held your words back. Even though night was falling, she could still see the small dark patches by her clenched fists, her tears having turned the dry soil a darker shade… … …but that darker one, that wasn't a tear stain…that was a feather…as realization dawned, ever so slightly, upon the youth, though still not enough to stop her whole frame from shaking, a clear, precise voice seemed to ring out from behind her;

_"There is no hate, only joy_

_For you are beloved by the goddess…"_

* * *

**A/N: I know it's kinda shortish, but this is literally the first thing I've done in about a month, if not longer - so please let me know what ye thought huns...thanks for reading either way, ye know I appreciate it by now!:P **


	11. Reunion

**_A/N: Umm...Hi huns! I know I haven't updated anything in months, I didn't mean to leave it this long huns, I just couldn't write anythiny, some personal stuff went on, but I'm gonna try and update a bit more regular now, I'm in my last year of school, so the pressure is really on._**

* * *

His voice was the same as it had been the day he'd left, as precise as ever with an undertone of smugness … but that was just the way he was; he'd come from a well-off family, the primary land - owners of Banora, he had been son to the Mayor of the village, he had been raised with that undertone of smugness.

His words were so familiar that Danni almost felt comfort in them. She'd heard that quote too many times in her childhood to even attempt recalling a number. Though the young woman rarely thought of it, Danni reckoned she knew most of play by heart now - Loveless. Genesis' constant quoting had annoyed her immensely when she was younger; too many long and complicated words had been incorporated into the play, too many for a young girl's mind to comprehend - but that didn't matter right now - she now knew he was alive at the least…

Genesis kept his gaze fixed to the sight before him. He'd seen her stumble, he'd heard her cry out and yet he remained silent as her frame continued to shake, his mind silently taking note of how much she had changed in the years that had elapsed since he'd last seen her. After what seemed like an age, the enigmatic SOLDIER saw fit to speak. It was only as he cast a fleeting glance upon the familiar Buster sword that Genesis became enlightened to the source of the youth's grief instantly, immediately formulating a way snap her out of her grief-stricken state.

"Tears of a SOLDIER, a sign of weakness - but what's to be expected of a female?"

Danni forced herself to swallow a shaky breath as she finally found her voice - the last thing she needed was his smart and undermining words - but despite herself, the young woman felt herself already fighting to control her emotions, reigning them in as she buried them once again, a SOLDIER did not allow emotions to hinder them.

"A sign of _weakness_? What about you - _**you**_ ran away when the walls were caving in, Genesis! I didn't, I never got a choice in anything that happened - you have no right to patronize me!"

Though it was the reaction he had been hoping for, the SOLDIER had not expected the venom that laced her words, and even though he had caused the words to fall from her mouth, he couldn't deny they hit a nerve … she'd been a kid back then, she hadn't got a choice in defecting or staying, unlike him - he had willingly turned his back on the greed - fuelled company, and with due reason in his opinion.

"You were a child, what could _**you**_ have understood about those circumstances?"

"I understood enough Genesis - I understood how deceptive ShinRa was, how manipulative it was, how it forced people to lie to people who trusted and loved them…"

Even as she stood there holding the older man's gaze, Danni knew that her words had been laced too personally to be of just a professional dislike, but she had every right to take it personally, right? It was ShinRa's fault she had been robbed of a normal childhood, it had been ShinRa's fault that she had been kept from her brother, it had been ShinRa's fault that she had never got to tell Zack about her supposed _boarding school_, it was ShinRa's fault that her brother was dead … but - but it wasn't Genesis' fault! And yet here she was yelling at the top of her voice at him, when he had had absolutely nothing to do with her past...he hadn't been the one to make all those decisions, and if anything - he had looked out for her, he certainly had she had gotten hurt during the training session with Sephiroth, he had intervened, against company policies, in order to halt the training session ... ... ... for that, Danni would be forever thankful to the enigmatic SOLDIER, though he had received heavy sanctions for defying the basic policy of the company... and here she was literally blaming it all on him.

"I … I'm sorry Genesis …"

* * *

The sky was clear when he finally arrived, with thousands of tiny bright specks twinkling above, brightening the ebony expanse. Angeal forced himself to hang back as he glimpsed his friend standing behind Danni, though his heart was telling him to make sure Danni was okay, to help her and comfort her as he had done when she'd been no more than a child, but the SOLDIER obeyed his head over his heart this time, seems he had already acted upon impulse that day, rushing head-long into a battle with Sephiroth on the basis that Danni had been in danger, if he had been acting upon the tactics drilled into his head, he would have waited and assessed how best to use the situation…but he couldn't give into his heart, she wasn't that little kid anymore, and that was a fact that stood out most in his head right then. The little kid he had taken from ShinRa that night all those years ago was gone, barely a trace of her left, instead; a headstrong young woman stood upon the bluff in her place, a young woman who had been through too much for her years, but in a way, it was those heartaches that had moulded her into the person she was now.

Angeal felt himself falter slightly as his eyes locked onto his own Buster Sword protruding from the barren ground of the bluff … … … it seemed like only yesterday that he'd given it to Zack, a kind of coming-of-age gift, the older male had given it to the hyper youth upon his mission to Nibelheim, his first real and substantial mission as a SOLDIER 1st Class - but to see the same blade - his blade, tattered and rusted, being used as the his student's grave marker, it cut him deep … deeper than any blade was capable of, and it hurt more than any injury he had sustained as a member of SOLDIER.

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**_A/N: I know it's shortish huns, but thanks for taking the time to read it. Reviews would be appreciated also - thanks again huns!_**


	12. Pride

**_A/N: Hi guys, here's the next chapter :)_**

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"He always was the protective one. Even now."

He made no attempt to elaborate as she looked up; she hadn't noticed Angeal's presence yet, but he certainly had. He was watching from a small distance, following her to ensure she didn't get hurt somehow. Some things never changed; he had always looked after her, even more than what had been expected of him as her in-company guardian. Genesis had always know his friend possessed a softer heart than most in SOLDIER, but he didn't allow that become a weakness.

His easily swayed heart had been the main factor behind Zack's possession of the Hewley buster sword. Angeal had treasured the blade, keeping it safe from scratches and rust, never using it unless he had no other choice, and even then the man had been known to sustain an injury or two instead of risking his buster sword.

But he had given it to Zack; a gift for making 1st Class. Once the young man had made 1st Class, he had no longer required a mentor; Angeal had given him the blade, knowing he would never abandon his honour or pride as a SOLDIER, and hoping its legacy would help Zack to fulfil his dream to become a hero. Though the blade had meant the world to Angeal, he had never strived to become a hero, nor had he had any additional dreams to chase … the symbol of his family's pride had been better off in the hands of someone who could truly fulfil its purpose.

"What happened in Gongaga, that's not his fault, you know that, right?"

That was easy for him to say, he hadn't been there. Danni didn't want to blame anyone for what had happened to her hometown, but it wasn't that simple; would the remnants have attacked Gongaga if she hadn't been there? Would her parents still be alive if Angeal hadn't brought her home to them? It was Sephiroth's fault. It was his fault that her family was gone, not Angeal's.

Kids had never been his strength. They never would be, he lacked the patience to put up with their indecisiveness and vulnerability. Danni was being childish about things right now. She was an adult, not a kid. She needed to grow up and pick a side of the fence, not stay sitting on it. Genesis rolled his eyes, shaking his head slightly; signalling for Angeal to stay back for another few moments. He didn't know if he had heard the conversation so far or not.

"Grow up, Mummy and Daddy aren't about to come back. Either is Zack. You have one family member left on this planet and everything he has done has been to protect or help you. You need to learn to harden your heart, your childhood's over, you're a SOLDIER, so start acting like one."

His words stung and cut deep. She wanted to cry again, she could feel the burning sensation of tears welling and the painful lump forming in her throat, but she couldn't cry, what would that accomplish? Tears would not fix anything, they'd simply waste time. The young woman bit back and swallowed past the lump in her throat, she quickly wiped away a rebellious tear as she blinked back the others.

Genesis was right. Danni pulled herself up from the barren ground, dusting off the back of her pants as she faced Genesis.

"Okay. What happens now then? Angeal said something about SOLDIER, and now you show up too, so what exactly is going on?"

Angeal took her question as his cue. He strolled towards the duo, vividly aware that Danni wasn't the same little kid he had taken care of in Midgar. She had a choice this time around. She could choose if she wanted to be a part of the fight or not. He wasn't going to force anything on her.

"Exactly what was said; the force is returning, whether ShinRa still want it or not. SOLDIER isn't going to sit by and watch another disaster unfold."

Genesis's words had stung her, but he had pointed out several truths; her parents and brother were gone, no amount of crying or wishing was going to change that, but she still had one family member around. Angeal might not be blood, but he had been as close to her as either of her parents; he had cared for her and raised her in ShinRa. She had spent many nights wishing he would show up in Gongaga, but she had known he wouldn't.

She didn't care if Genesis took offence to her moment of weakness; she wrapped her arms around Angeal, hiding her face in his chest as she spoke quietly; revelling in how his toned arms encased her.

"Please don't go away again."

"I won't, you have my word."

* * *

"Don't get upset over stupid things … I've known for years."

His words trailed off as a hand gently squeezed his shoulder; her emerald eyes conveyed what he already knew; _she can't hear you_. Zack nodded dejectedly as he sighed. He had already known that. He could scream and shout all he wanted, but the only person who could hear him was Aerith. He couldn't help but voice his thoughts though, Danni was guilty for keeping things from him, but he'd known all about her ties with SOLDIER.

The reactor at Nibelheim had held several files and reports, along with reams and reams of project outlines. He had taken the liberty to scan several of them prior to Sephiroth's tirade. Zack had read the file pertaining to his little sister, robbing it of the necessary pages and folding them in his back pocket. He had already decided to confront Angeal and his parents about it when the mission in Nibelheim was done … but things hadn't exactly gone to plan.

But he had never been angry at Danni because of it. Maybe a bit irked that his mentor had knowingly kept it from him, angry that his parents had agreed to such a thing, regardless of how ill he had been, surely something else would have worked out. But Zack had had plenty of time to mull over things and work through his anger, eventually accepting his parents decision.

Zack hated this torture; they had both had to stand by and watched Meteor and all the disasters that had followed. The Ancients had offered them no explanation other than they hadn't accomplished what was needed of them. If the Ancients had been so bothered about their supposed unaccomplished jobs, then they should have worked harder to make sure they hadn't died; he hadn't seen anyone around helping him when the army had closed in. He certainly hadn't seen any of the Ancients trying to stop Sephiroth from killing Aerith.

But they weren't big fans of listening to his rants either. They had the pleasure of watching their friends go through challenge after challenge, stumbling and falling along the way. They had been allowed to help a little with the Geostigma epidemic, but only once it appeared that Cloud might not prevail.

Eight years had passed since he'd last seen his sister face-to-face. He could stand here and watch her every move, but wasn't allowed to ease her guilt or let her know that he wasn't angry. All Zack wanted, was to tell her how proud he was.

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_**A/N: It's a little short, but I wanted to get the last bit kinda on its own - anyhow, thanks for everyone who's been reviewing and taking the time to read this :)**_


	13. Developments

**_A/N: Heya huns! See, I said I'd get this one up as soon as I could :P Though I have to admit, I'm shocked I manged to write this chapter so soon after uploading the other one. Anyhow, this chapter focuses mainly on Danni and Demyx and the relationship between then, so enjoy!_**

* * *

"You kinda disappeared quick last night…"

"Huh - Owww!"

Demyx hid a laugh as a loud thump accompanied several curses, followed by Danni standing up from where she had been stacking some glasses on the low shelves down behind the counter of the bar, rubbing the right side of her temple, on which an angry red mark was already clearly visible. He stopped laughing as he realised she'd also hit her head where she'd collided with the table a few nights ago, guilt suddenly flared up within him.

"Hey, you okay?"

Danni grimaced slightly as she nodded her head, carefully touching the are above her right eye, then quickly retracting her hand as pain assured her the mark and cut were still very much present.

"Think so, but why do I keep banging my head lately though?!"

"Beats me - some people are just natural-born cluts…"

"You'd know that from experience now, wouldn't you?!"

Demyx took a breath to defend himself, but relented to simply nodding his head in agreement, there was no point in denying the truth! That, and it was nice to see her smiling again - not the one she had been using for a while - sure, her face smiled, but her eyes did not. They always gave her away when she tried to hide something. He looked sideways quickly as she turned around from picking up a few more glasses out of the dishwasher, he'd been watching her without even noticing - Roxas' slagging and teasing was enough on it's own, not that the twerp knew all that much - but it had nothing to do with him anyhow.

"So, where's the rest of the gang?"

Danni rolled her eyes slightly as the tall blond looked at her for a moment or two, confusion evident on his face until realisation and understanding dawned in his eyes. She loved the ways they sparkled - not like hers though - not falsely, not because of the mako in her system, his were fresh, light, they had a cheeky shine, like something beneath the surface, behind the black coat and numerical rank…and he was looking straight at her! Danni blushed as she quickly averted her gaze, knowing that he had seen the rush of colours to her cheeks as clearly as she felt them burning…

"Umm…Roxas and Axel are at the stronghold, Zexion is licking-up to Xemnas trying to find out if he's noticed our absences lately, Marluxia is… uhh, haven't a clue to be honest, last time I checked he was at Castle Oblivion with Larxene, if he's still there then pray for him, she's an absolute psychopath!"

She laughed as the other youth shuddered, sitting down on one of the bar stools as the awkwardness of a few seconds earlier finally passed, for a moment she thought he would have said something, but he didn't, so now she could put that behind her, right?

"I'm guessing she's not a friend of your's then, huh?"

"Nope, not even slightly. I guess none of us are really friends…maybe that's why things turned out the way they did?"

Danni halted as she bent down to pick up a few more glasses, suddenly thrown by the sincere tone that had developed in Demyx's voice. In the weeks that had passed since she woke up in ShinRa's head quarters, he had been the one person who had always been there with a smile and took the time to sit down and explain things to her, not that others didn't, because they did; Tifa was like a mother figure, and Cloud was always keeping an eye on her…but he was the first new face she had seen, and he'd fought her corner when she was unable too, and he was just a really good friend.

"But you guys, the five of you, you're friends now, right? And what do you mean how things turned out the way they did?"

Demyx shrugged his shoulders as he leaned back on the stool - taking care not to unsettle his balance too much, he'd done that before and had landed rather heavily upon his butt as a reward - it didn't matter, things had turned out that way for a reason, and right now he wanted to all he could to avoid any of the five of them getting hurt this time.

"Never mind, I'm just thinking about stuff too much, I'm not used to it."

She wasn't convinced, even the smile he faked as he half-heartedly laughed at himself wasn't enough to cover up the personal touch things had taken on. Something was bothering him, of that she was more than sure. Danni sighed as she wiped her hands on a tea-towel and walked around the bar, so that she now stood on the same side as the other youth. She smiled as she sat down on the stool alongside his;

"Demyx, c'mon hun, you really aren't good at lying - d'you know that? Please explain or talk to me, I'm worried now."

Several silent seconds dragged by as the older person remained silent, evidently debating whether he wanted to actually confide in someone or not. The other four saw him as a friend, and as the forgetful one…but he had his thoughts and fears too.

"Remember what I said about Nobodies and Heartless?"

Danni nodded, undoing the elastic tie that held her hair up in it's customary pony-tail, and pulling the loose locks around so they hung over her left shoulder, leaving the right side of her face exposed.

"Kinda, Axel said some more on it, but I have a pretty good idea of how it all works at this stage, why?"

For another few seconds, the only sound that interrupted the still air of the unusually empty bar was that of a zip being opened and heavy fabric hitting the floor…Demyx smirked as he sat back down on the stool, having removed his trademark coat to reveal lose black combats and a black sleeveless shirt.

"I'm a Nobody, all of us are. We're not supposed to feel any emotions, we're not supposed to have hearts. I used to fool myself into thinking I did, most of the Organization did really…something Saix said though sticks in my mind a lot: we remember what it's like to feel, that's what makes us so dangerous…but it's just not worth it…it's just not Danni. I was thirteen when I joined the Organization, I don't really remember much of what - who I was, or who my family had been…sometimes I'll get something, something someone says or someone does, it'll trigger a memory - but then it just slips away again - six years of being broken over and over again is all I remember. Demyx; Number 9, The Melodious Nocturne, the idiot. Everyone can see me as the idiot, I really don't have the will to care at this stage…"

Danni remained silent as she watched the suddenly brooding blond raise a hand towards a glass she'd left on the other side of the bar, she felt her eyes widen slightly as the contents of the glass silently rose from their container and moved closer to the young nobody…

"My element is water, comes in handy I guess…Organization XIII fell to it's knees and faded into darkness. Sora, the kid with the key blade, he's Roxas' other…he defeated us. But we'd already been at war with ourselves…by the time he arrived at the stronghold, Marluxia was gone, Zexion was gone, Roxas was gone, Axel had literally killed himself, and I'd been defeated…me and Axel had been friends then, and Roxas - outside of that, we were all our own personal enemies within a larger enemy…but I'm not going down that road again Danni. I want to live my life the way I was supposed to, I want to try and get back what I forgot and lost when I was a kid…"

All of that - and he'd never let on to anyone that anything was bothering him…no one deals with that kind of baggage on their own, regardless of whether they should or should not have a heart. Danni felt her chest pang with sympathy for her friend. All she'd ever seen him do was laugh and smile, the occasional joke - and now being there hearing all of what went on in his mind…made her realise just how much she cared for him.

"You're not an idiot…you're human - heart or no heart. You make me laugh when I'm down, you're always there smiling and watching, I think back to before I woke up in ShinRa headquarters and all I can see is you, your eyes, your face…you're my friend and I'm always here for you Demyx, this life stuff is hard, a hell of a lot harder for us than most others our ages…I've got your back and always will, I promise."

"Don't think you owe me Danni, I care about you too much to drag you down into my world…gummi ships, heartless, nobodies, corridors of darkness, twisted superiors…being nothing."

"Look at me, please Demyx?"

Demyx hesitantly turned his head to the left, again meeting gazes with those enthralling amethyst orbs…she was being nothing but genuine.

"Do you think I feel obliged to owe you? Do you think I'm scared of your world - given mine so far? You have twisted superiors, I have a demented ex-mentor, my world doesn't have gummi ships, not that I even know what they are, but does Cid's airship count? Heartless - shadow creepers, nobodies - remnants, corridors of darkness - Jenova cells, being nothing…Demyx you are so much more."

The blond shook his head, she wasn't being there because she had to, she was being there because she actually cared, something he hadn't encountered in years, if at all. He cared so much about her it hurt, he'd felt that way since him and Axel had found her in Gongaga, that's what Roxas always teased him about, the younger blond knew exactly how he felt towards Danni - but he couldn't, he was a nobody, nothing. And empty shell acting on a will of it's own, he was incapable of feeling anything, he lied to himself that he could feel, he was so lost within his own lie it was all the same now, truth and lie.

"Danni, you're the first person who's ever really confused me…and I don't know why! I care about you more than I do myself, seeing you smile lightens the weight of covering up everything, I love you - but I can't, I'm not supposed to feel that way, I'm not supposed to be able to, but I do, and it confuses me so much because - what if it's all a lie? A lie I've told myself…"

It was only then that Demyx realised that he was standing and what he had said - what he had revealed to her - now he definitely felt like an idiot! The young man groaned as bent over, leaning his head on his hands upon the bar counter, knowing that he couldn't just take back what he'd just said…_I love you_…why did he always put his foot in it?!

"I'm sorry Danni, I didn't mean to…"

"No. Stop there…it-it can't be a lie, if it is, then I'm guilty of lying to myself too Demyx, and you confuse me too - but that's what I love…"

"But - Oww!"

Danni laughed as an audible thump rang out…a natural-born cluts…yep, that was him. Anyone else would have remembered where they'd left their coat down, but not Demyx! After a second or two of indecisiveness, he even joined in laughing, having seen the funny side of his collision with the floor…she was worth any pain.

"Danni - go out with me tomorrow night?"

A smile and a nod - that's all he needed as an answer.

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_**A/N: Hope you liked, and thanks for reading huns!**_


	14. A Date

_**A/N: I had half of this done up, and was pretty happy with it...then my word document crashed, which wasn't too bad because my laptop saved 90% of what I'd typed, so when I opened the word document after it restarted, I was only after losing a paragraph - until it crashed again, and lost everything!**_

* * *

"Hey, we just came from ShinRa - who's the dude with the red coat?!"

Tifa half laughed as Roxas quickly announced his and the gangs' arrival, in his own unique way. She had to admit though; it had been a slight shock arriving at ShinRa yesterday while Danni had offered to watch the bar for her, to be met by another unfamiliar face, one that was introduced as another 1st Class SOLDIER. But however taken aback she had been, along with AVALANCHE and The WRO, it was nothing in comparison to Rufus' feelings towards it all. Everything his father had built up had literally destroyed itself, imploded even. But now things were quickly returning to how they had been, he couldn't deny that the idea of resurrecting SOLDIER had ever been **_fully_** ruled out, but it had been highly unlikely. Now Danni was in Edge, Angeal had arrived, and now as of a two days; Genesis Rhapsodos. With them had come a proposition which the older males posed to Rufus - resurrect the SOLDIER program - reinstate members who had went MIA, start up scouting - scout the promising Turk recruits, anyone that might even possibly possess the skills that were once viewed as worthy of SOLDIER - set up a force that once again struck the fear of God into people and enemies alike. The only question that remained; would Rufus be willing to resurrect a program that had left nothing but destruction in its wake?

"His name is Genesis, he ranked 1st Class and grew up with Angeal in Banora - and I think you'd get on well with him Zexion!"

Tifa smiled, saved from her attempt at an explanation by Danni's voice being shouted from the hallway, announcing the fact that she had finally come down the stairs. Zexion inclined his head towards the door that the voice had wafted through, raising his eyebrow in a questioning manner as he queried back.

"Really, and why is that?"

Danni shrugged as she finally entered the full bar, taking note of the usual punters along with the AVALANCHE gang, numerous WRO personnel, and, of course, Demyx and the other four guys. She suddenly felt extremely self-conscious as innumerable gazes seemed to rest on her far longer than they usually did, but she carried on to walking until she was behind the bar, along with Tifa and Yuffie who were serving drinks, trying to figure out where exactly she had left her purse.

"Well, he comes across as smug, slightly arrogant, enjoys pointing out when others are wrong - and has a **_major_** fixation with a book!"

Laughter quickly eased her self-consciousness, even Zexion managed to crack a smile as he heard her words, knowing she had not just been referring to Genesis' personality in those words, but what also made him smile was the timing of her words…

"_Legend shall speak, Of sacrifice at world's end, The wind sails over the water's surface, Quietly, But surely."_

"Damn - _**Oww**_, not again!"

_Again_ - two days running! Danni groaned as she stood back up, rubbing the right side of her head once more, it might not have been his fault, but she was blaming that bump on Genesis! Screw him, his book, and his timing!

"_There are no dreams, No honour remains_ - Go bang your head off of something now!"

Genesis bit back a retort as his eyes fell upon Danni, taken aback by how she looked despite himself. Her ebony tresses hung loose over her shoulders and down her back, unusually straight for once, she wore dark jeans, almost black in colour; along with a tight fitting white top…Genesis elbowed his friend as he whispered quietly:

_"She's not a kid anymore Angeal - good luck, I think you'll need it."_

"If you're gonna talk about me - then say it out loud Genesis!"

Danni stuck her tongue out at the SOLDIER as he gave her _**that**_ look - the one that she had received on several occasions when she'd been younger, and always after she'd passed a comment, an almost daring look that asked her if she really wanted to go against him? He may have come across as arrogant and slightly snobbish towards those who didn't know him, but Genesis really wasn't that bad if he allowed you to get to know him that was. The SOLDIER was extremely picky with who he left close enough to see who he really was, if you did get that close then you knew there were only a few morals he really held close, the central one being the ties of friendship.

Genesis shrugged, turning to hide a smirk as he glanced around the bar, aware of the untrusting gazes locked onto him, all but one that was, a tall youth sitting in the corner had eyes for only one person in the whole of the bar, Genesis followed the blond's line of sight until he found himself to be once again looking at a certain nineteen-year-old SOLDIER, the Banora-native smirked all the wider as realisation dawned.

"I was going to ask why you were so dressed up - I assume you're going out tonight? Which begs the question, who with? But I think I have the answer to that already; group of five in the corner, third from the left, blond hair, green eyes - is that him?"

_One, two - he __**was**__ the third! _Danni stood still for a moment or two, shocked at how quickly Genesis had managed to analyse the situation and draw a correct conclusion, truth be told, she had literally asked for it! The young woman only smiled as she finally located her purse, down by the side of the till, picked up her handbag and walked out from behind the bar, avoiding Reno's purposely outstretched leg and tugging on his ponytail in retaliation as he did so, ignoring the teasing comments that were picking up volume as Demyx stood, avoiding four sets of purposely outstretched legs as each person sitting at the table he'd been at attempted to trip him up…

"Guess you were right as usual Genesis!"

Reno shook his head as the door closed behind Danni and Demyx, finally, some entertainment! Ways to torment each youth were already formulation within his mind, ways to make their lives _**his**_ source of fun and smart comments! He had her number, so that was slagging her sorted, but how he would get to Demyx was another thing, the kid hardly talked to him, except when the others were around - the others! Axel would have his number…

"Axel - you have his number?"

Axel nodded as he leaned his head over the back of his chair, looking at his brother upside down, instantly knowing exactly what was going through the Turk's mind at that moment in time, everyone once in a while the man seemed to think along the same lines as him - the pyromaniac grinned as he took his phone from his pocket, already mimicking what his brother had in mind…

* * *

Demyx rolled his eyes as he felt the familiar sensation of his phone vibrating in his jeans pocket…an hour that was all! An hour they had been gone and for those short sixty minutes, never once had his phone stopped silently buzzing - he'd looked at the first missed call - Axel. It had just been him to start with, but within the last half an hour he had been getting texts and calls from pretty much the whole gang, minus Zexion. He was going to get the slagging of his life when they got him on his own, he knew that only too well, but hey - he would deal with that when the time came - as for right then, they could all kindly fuck off for a while.

"Oh sweet Minerva take a fuck off tablet Reno!"

Danni swore under her breath as she snapped her phone shut, only for it to start ringing once more, why the hell the Turk cared so much about what she was doing, was beyond her - but enough was enough!

"What're you doing?"

She merely smiled knowingly as she turned her phone over, still ringing, and slid the back of it off, revealing the battery, then simply removed the small power source and slid the back of her phone into place once more, throwing both the phone and her battery back into her handbag as she sighed.

"Now he can ring my number all he likes!"

Demyx shook his head laughing lightly, still wondering how he'd managed to ask her out - let's face it - he wasn't exactly the most elegant with his words or the bravest of people, but there he was now, sitting alongside a girl he really liked, beneath a statue…thing…monument?

"What's it of - the statue?"

Danni glanced behind her and up as she realised exactly what he was on about - the Meteor Monument, having been re-built in the last few months.

"It's the Meteor Monument…it got destroyed when the Remnants came along, I think it was a summon that destroyed it, I'm not too sure, Gongaga got the news a lot later than other places…it stands as a reminder for everything and everyone that was lost when Meteor almost hit, so that hopefully the same thing won't be allowed to happen again - good job, huh?"

No answer met her question, apart from the usual noises that accompanied life in Edge, some kids kicking a ball across the street, barks of stray dogs, shouts from neighbours to friends, running water…he didn't know where it was coming from, but it was an unmistakable sound in his mind. Demyx shrugged as he leaned back, glancing up at the countless specks that lit up the ink sky…

"All the different worlds and it looks the same in each…"

Danni once again looked up, taking a moment or two to stare at the vast expanse of dark sky above them, it was funny, she'd heard of all these different worlds - but it was still hard to comprehend that there were other worlds other than the one she'd grown up in, it made her feel so much smaller and irrelevant.

"Tell me about the world you come from."

He glanced sideways as her head leaned against the side of his chest, a small smile tugged at the corner of his mouth; for once, things were going good. Demyx smiled as he looked back up to the black inkiness, maybe Edge wouldn't be that bad? That's what they had been at ShinRa that morning, and most of the day in fact. Things were getting too heated lately, Zexion, being the closest to The Superior, had let them know of his growing suspicions, Xemnas had been noticing their prolonged absences, and had also expressed a wish to meet with a possible ally, within a week, Roxas had managed to find out who, through some idle talk with Xigbar - Sephiroth. The decision had been made for them not to return to the Stronghold - if they did - it was likely that Xemnas had already deduced from Sephiroth that they were indeed playing double agents. Though it had not been an easy decision to make, all contact had to be cut off from anyone in the other worlds that were aware of their change of heart, so to speak. It had been hardest on the youngest member - Roxas - his girlfriend was with Sora and her other, Kairi, but if he went back to the Stronghold, he'd likely be killed immediately, if he went with Sora and the rest, he'd still be an easy target, that's why he'd chosen to stay with the gang and ShinRa - but that meant leaving without a word to Naminé…it was for her good too, if the Organization even thought she knew where he was - they'd hurt her…it was better this way.

"I don't really remember much of my original home…a garden with lots of flowers, then lots of shouting and people panicking…black creatures everywhere, glowing yellow eyes - then standing in an alley in The World That Never Was, with that scar-faced lunatic…what happened your shoulder?"

She glanced to her left shoulder for a moment or two as she was jolted from her thoughts, not realising what he meant to begin with, but after a second, she noticed the think silvery line that stretched from an inch or two on the front of her shoulder, to half way down the back of her shoulder blade…not-to-pleasant memories flashed across her mind as she stared at the marring scar.

"It's on my other shoulder too…when I was seven, I was sick for a while because of the mako, Tyler didn't want me doing any simulations coz I'd been sick all that week, but that didn't matter to Sephiroth, Angeal had been away on an mission…Sephiroth wouldn't stop the simulation, I got hurt pretty bad - Genesis stopped the session after I took are really bad hit - I broke my two shoulder blades when I'd got thrown back against a wall, I needed an operation to stop some bleeding and repair some of the bones with pins…"

Relative silence quickly enveloped the two again as they relapsed into their own thoughts, Danni silently wondering where the exact moment was that her life got so messed up, as Demyx tried to figure out where things went from here in regards to the Organization…and the job offers that Rufus had proposed.

"I'm not going back Danni…none of us are."

"Huh - why not?"

Demyx shrugged as stood back up, aware that his phone was still vibrating in his jeans pocket, and that if they stayed away too long, it may tempt on of them to come investigating via a portal - namely Roxas or Axel.

"Xemnas is starting to put two and two together, that and Sephiroth has entered the equation…Rufus has offered jobs, we have two days to decide whether or not we want them, but I think I will…d'you think I'll look good in a suit?"

"Well, it's black; it'll match the rest of your wardrobe!"

"Is that a yes then, _**Danielle**_?"

Danni narrowed her eyes as she stood up also, she knew he was only teasing really, she enjoyed it though - knowing that even though he was teasing - he didn't want to hurt her, comforting even. Nevertheless, she had never been one to take a slag lying down, and this was no exception!

"Bite me, whatever your surname is or was, and now you're not getting this back!"

"Danni - c'mon, that's my jacket…"

An exaggerated nod and a stuck out tongue was all that answered his statement of the obvious, that along with her wrapping his dark jacket tighter around her smaller frame, he had to laugh despite himself as every step forward and towards her he took, she mimicked and took one back…and still his stupid phone was silently buzzing away within his pocket, for a moment or two he even considered doing as Danni had and remove his battery,at least then they'd get the message that he really wasn't in the mood to be slagged, Demyx stopped immediately as a sickening familiar voice sounded from behind him.

"An interesting mission, though I must admit, I did not expect to be betrayed by Zexion…"

Danni glanced up as she heard the strange voice, there was a man standing behind a shocked looking Demyx, he was tall, taller than Demyx was, with a tanned complexion and silvery-grey hair…she didn't like him, she didn't know why, but there was something about him that set her on edge. However uneasy she had felt, it doubled sevenfold as Demyx turned his back to her, stepping back a few paces so as he stood in front of her, partially blocking her view of the strange man, she put a hand on his shoulder as she glanced around him to keep the man in her sights, passively noticing Demyx's hand slipping into his jeans pocket.

"Who is he?"

He didn't reply, only stepped further back, ensuring that she was fully behind him, there was no way he was going to let her get hurt because of him.

"Xemnas…maybe if you weren't so full of yourself all the time - _**ahh**_!"

Demyx bit back hard as he hit the cold concrete forcefully, he knew there was a reason he hated Xemnas, his element was extremely unpredictable, with ever other element controlled by the members of Organization XIII, it was possible to fathom what each member was capable of with their element, all apart from Xemnas, Nothingness was unpredictable and flexible…

"_**Demyx**_!"

Xemnas smirked as he watched the fear and shock in the girl's eyes, it was amusing to watch in a sense, it was obvious that she cared for him, the Superior took a step forward as the blond nobody dragged himself back to his feet, showing more back-bone than he had while acting on Organization orders…there was something in that idiots eyes that hadn't been there before, and for once, it puzzled the Superior…

"Do you care for her? Or do you simply tell yourself you do?"

"Shut up!"

Even Danni found herself somewhat surprised by the venom that laced Demyx' voice, and for once, she was genuinely scared…Xemnas, whoever he was, she didn't like him, there was something unnatural about him, his eyes chilled her to her very core - they were so empty.

"Demyx, who is he, are you okay?!"

Demyx bit down on the inside of his cheek, painfully aware of the dull ache throbbing across his chest where Xemnas' blast had struck him…they knew by now things weren't going as planned, he'd answered his phone, which was still in his pocket, allowing whoever had been calling him to hear what was going on…

"Move aside."

Xemnas frowned as the youth remained stock still, standing square in front of the girl, for some reason she interested him greatly…

"Acting brave, let's see how brave the idiot can be…you are nothing Demyx, do not _**ever**_ forget that."

Danni stumbled back a pace or two as Demyx pushed her backwards away from him, knowing exactly what the Superior was capable of, she watched on helplessly as the strange man outstretched an arm in Demyx' general direction, an action that was immediately followed by the younger nobody raising several inches, angry red marks already materializing around his wind-pipe…

* * *

_**A/N: I really had no idea this chapter was going to include Xemnas, it just kinda popped into my head - let me know what you thought huns, and thanks for reading!**_


	15. Twilight

**_A/N: Sorry this one took slightly longer to upload, it's been in my A4 pad in my school bag with the last few days, I only just got the time to type it up, anyhow, enjoy huns!_**

* * *

"Danni, stay behind me or somewhere I can see you!"

Danni halted as someone grabbed her shoulder and pulled her backwards, behind his or her frame - it was only as she caught sight of the person's flame-red hair that she realised who was now standing in front of her - Axel. She did not like being behind him, or anyone for that matter, it felt belittling, but she didn't argue…she knew little of this man's capabilities. With Sephiroth or the Remnants, she had a pretty good idea of what they could do and what their fighting styles were, this man however was a blank canvas, and given what she'd just seen him do to Demyx, his abilities were unlike any she knew of.

Xemnas narrowed his eyes as he kept his sights on the blond who was now struggling for breath, it was surprising in his eyes - he had expected the idiot to opt out or back down by now, but he was showing no signs of even intending on doing so - the youth didn't even possess a backbone in the Superior's eyes, if they'd been back at the Stronghold he wouldn't have dared disagree let alone defy him! Maybe he actually _**had**_ convinced himself he harboured feelings for this girl after all. Which was impossible, he was a nobody - _**his**_ nobody!

"Beg…"

"_**Ahh**_!"

Demyx bit down hard on the inside of his cheek, hard enough so as the metallic tang of blood filled his mouth, he couldn't breath, his throat felt as if it were on fire, he could hardly hear anything above the sound of rushing blood filling his ears, blocking out all other audible noises…despite all his efforts, he couldn't keep it up, he could feel his eyes rolling back in their sockets, feel the darkness tugging at his consciousness once again…then the ground suddenly rushed up to meet him as the unrelenting vice-like grip vanished, replaced by a thundering headache and scorched throat. He glanced around, acutely aware of the heat that surrounded him…

Axel looked around quickly, Zexion had Xemnas distracted, but illusions wouldn't hold up for that long, they needed to make more locations viable, if the Organization considered the possibility of all the worlds, they'd have more chance of staying un-noticed in at least one of them…he'd already established a meet up location with the others in case this were to happen, but he hadn't banked on Danni being as involved as she was and now there wasn't enough time to explain to her, he knew it was going to be confusing, but they needed to split up to lose Xemnas - the pyromaniac frowned as Roxas looked to him with a nod - much longer and it risked the rest of the remaining Organization arriving.

"Can you open a portal?"

Demyx shook his head as he stood, knowing that he had barely enough energy left to stay conscious, let alone open a portal, and even if he could, he had no guarantee as to where exactly the other end would lead…Axel frowned as he grabbed a hold of the blonds' shoulder, making sure he didn't keel over just yet - he could pass out all he liked once they were through the portal - but for now, he had to stay standing. The older nobody opened a portal just a few feet away, saving Demyx the effort, then spoke directly to Danni knowing time was not exactly something they had in abundance.

"I'll go through it with the two of you - but I have to leave straight away to throw off the Organization - it's a town called Twilight Town, there are three people there you can trust; Hayner, Pence and Olette - do not trust anyone besides them. Find somewhere safe until he can open a portal again, then go to Hollow Bastion - got it memorized?"

Danni nodded, knowing that now was not the best time for questions, she had only the faintest ideas of what was going on, but she trusted Axel, if he said walk through it, then she trusted that he knew what he was doing. She eyed the looming portal for another moment or two, the memories of those _**dusk**_ creatures still burned vividly into her mind.

"Quickly!"

Axel nodded as Zexion glanced back over his shoulder to where the three were standing; knowing that what little time they had was all but gone. The tall fire-manipulating nobody put his hand on the back of the younger girl's shoulder, guiding her towards the overly familiar wispy blackness. He snapped his head back once again as the sound of someone hitting the ground with considerable force announced that their time was definitely up.

"Move it now!"

Danni nodded, biting back several questions as Axel turned away from her, she halted somewhat as she watched Zexion reclaim his footing despite the violent flash of scarlet that contrasted against the jeans on his right leg.

"He'll be fine; he knows Xemnas and what he's capable of more than any of us…"

Before she could reply, a hand closed around her wrist, pulling her forward and into the malicious looking portal. It was different this time, there was no long corridor-like inter-phase, instead; she found herself standing in an unfamiliar street; the pavement and buildings looked like they were of red brick, it was extremely claustrophobic…all the buildings were attached to each other and different alleys led off in their own directions, with slopes, steps and lamp posts…it was too closed in for her liking.

"Danni, c'mon…we can't stay around here-"

Demyx trailed off as the ground beneath him began to sway dangerously, he could hear her voice calling his name, but he could not understand why it sounded so far away…

"Demyx!"

Danni grabbed a hold of her friend's arm as his legs buckled, trying her best to keep him on his feet and conscious, but it was a losing battle, he was tall and heavier than she was to start with and hurt on top of it. She glanced up and down the street, feeling useless as she had when the Remnants showed up in Gongaga, she was alone, the one person she trusted was hurt and out of it, and she didn't have a clue how to find her way around this place…she looked back to his face, her stomach twisting into a painful knot as her amethyst eyes spotted the angry red marks around his throat, ones that were rapidly taking in a deep purple, almost black, colour. "Demyx…I have no idea where I am or what to do…"

"Look, I'm not saying we _**shouldn't **_do it - I just don't _**want**_ to do it, it's a waste…hey - are you okay?!"

Hayner found himself stopping rather suddenly as he spotted the unfamiliar girl, only moving forward as Pence walked straight into his back, evidently having not noticed the girl or that he'd stopped moving. Pence groaned as he stepped back, rubbing his shoulder as he queried the combat-wearing teenager.

"Hayner - what gives?!"

Danni snapped her head around as she heard a vaguely familiar name - Hayner, that had been one of the name's Axel had mentioned. Normally, she would not trust someone on first impressions, but she trusted Axel, she might not have known him as long as she did his brother, but Axel was sincere, smart and sarcastic at times - but never malicious.

"Hayner - Axel told me to trust you and two others - please help…"

Hayner looked at the girl, somewhat set on edge by her presence, he definitely had not seen her before and the fact she said Axel had told her to trust him was confusing, the red-head hadn't been in contact or in Twilight Town in months, only Roxas. The teenager kept his mouth closed as he looked to behind the girl, someone was on the ground behind her, after a moment or so he realized he knew exactly whom it was.

"That's Roxas' friend - Demyx!"

* * *

"Who are you, what happened?"

Hayner glanced back to the girl who had been with Demyx, she looked uninjured, Demyx on the other hand was pretty banged up, the most evident of his injuries being the darkening marks across his throat, next being the considerably large and still developing bruise on his chest bone.

Danni remained silent as three pairs of eyes kept her clearly in their line of sight, her mind flashed back to the day she'd awoken in ShinRa, they'd all given her the same look to start with, especially Cid. She glanced quickly around the area, the Usual Spot, that's what they'd called it, taking in all the noticeable aspects of the simple yet practical hang out, then took stock of her situation; Demyx was pretty beat up, but he'd be okay, which was a major relief, she was in a strange place and didn't know her way around, and now the three people she'd been told to trust, were giving her some of the most untrusting gazes she had ever received.

"My name is Danni…we were on a date, but Xemnas showed up…he hurt him, then Axel and the others came…I don't know how things played out after we left."

A sharp nod was all that met her words - the blond kid had a major attitude problem - that much was clear to her. However, one could hardly blame the teen for being off-putting. Many things were changing lately, people he had thought he had known were turning around left right and centre, looking for the nearest person to stab in the back, friends were a hard thing to both find and hang onto.

"What's your home world?"

Danni stared blankly at him for a moment or two, thinking hard, until finally she shrugged, honestly not knowing…she'd never had to know before, she knew the name of the planet if that worked the same way, but up until only weeks ago she hadn't even been aware that there were such things as different worlds.

"I'm not sure…Gaia? Don't look at me like that, that's my honest answer - up until a few weeks ago, I didn't know there were worlds other than my home - I just want to go home, I need to make sure my Mom and Dad are…I forgot…damn it."

Danni groaned as she placed her head in her hands, shocked by what she had just said, shocked that she could be so forgetful, okay, many things had changed and happened…but she had forgotten. How could she have?

"Forgot what?"

"Nothing…I have to clear my head."

Pence looked from the door, out which the girl - Danni - had just walked, back to Hayner and back again. He knew his friend's level of patience was literally non-existent, but he also knew that even though they knew Demyx, they had no right over how his apparent girlfriend acted. She was upset, that much was evident, but with due reason - she said her and Demyx had been on a date - he doubted very much that either had expected a night out to end that way.

"I'm going to follow her, I'm worried…"

Olette did not wait for a response from either of the two conscious males as she grabbed Danni's handbag and the jacket she had been wearing. Something was up with the girl, and it was not exactly Hayner or Pence's place to go after her. She knew it seemed slightly idiotic following a person who she had only know with roughly an hour, but she had made friends with Kairi in a matter of minutes - this was no different.

* * *

Danni turned full circle as she reached the top of the hill, finding herself on some sort of a plaza, as station - possibly a train station - looked out over a small wall at an impressive expanse of the nights sky…she smiled as a sudden thought occurred to her, he was right. Demyx had been right, it looked the same as it did in Edge, and Gongaga…at least something stayed the same, it was comforting in a sense to know that no matter what happened, it would be the same. She sighed as she leaned against the wall, wondering what it would be like to see the world from the perspective of those innumerable specks that lit up the night's sky - to silently watch all the joys and hardships that people went through - and all the stupidity and mistakes people seemed to unknowingly gave birth to, if they could talk, what would they say? Would they give advice, or simply condemn humanity for the wars and hurt that were so rampant?

"You know what kind of memory I have Mom…which isn't much of an excuse to be honest. I know Dad's probably laughing or teasing…I love you both, and you miss you so much, but he won't get away with it, I won't leave him - I promise."

"Who are you talking to?"

Olette stepped forward, but quickly back-stepped hesitantly as the older female glanced back over her shoulder, suddenly feeling extremely intrusive - Danni's words had been personal, not meant for her ears, but she had heard and curiosity had taken hold.

"I'm sorry, I over-stepped the line -"

"No…no you didn't…I'm sorry I walked out, Olette, right?"

The brunette nodded as she walked to the wall, leaning against it so as she was looking out of the vast sky just like the older girl, smiling as she turned to face Danni, holding out the handbag and jacket as she spoke;

"You left these back at the Usual Spot…I just wanted to make sure you were okay, you seem really tense."

Danni blinked in astonishment as she took the bag and jacket from Olette, silently taking comfort in the over sized jacket as she put it on, this girl was genuinely concerned about her, she could see the sincerity in her eyes…it was strange, how some people could be so willing to help out a stranger and care about a barely known individual, she would never know. Nevertheless, it _**was**_ appreciated.

"Thank you, I'm okay now…something just kinda threw me back there is all."

Olette paused for a few seconds, mentally attempting to organize her thoughts into constructive words, but quickly gave up as she realised there was no point on trying to say something indirectly.

"I get it…you're here, you don't know where here is, you want to go home but can't because your boyfriend is hurt, which is making you worried about him…but you know you don't have to carry all that on your own."

Danni took a breath to correct Olette on her use of the term boyfriend, but stopped as she thought about it and looked to who's jacket she was currently wrapped in…he'd gotten hurt because he wouldn't move away from in front of her, he'd pulled her through the portal when Axel had been forced to stay back and assist Zexion despite how hurt he'd been, he had even tried to get somewhere safe before collapsing…she smiled to herself as she thought of Olette's words once more; _**boyfriend**_…

* * *

_**A/N: Shout out to Kaarina Helvete who's been extremely supportive of this fic - it's appreciated greatly hun, thank you!**_


	16. Moodiness

_**A/N: This is more like a filler chapter to be honest huns, either way, hope you like :P**

* * *

Voices_…why were they talking so loud though?! How come they didn't realise each of their words added to his already splitting migraine? Could they not be considerate - he would be - actually he wouldn't, but he liked to think he could be.

"They've been gone with a while, it's starting to get light - you don't think something could have happened - do you?"

Hayner shook his head, having thought of that about an hour ago. He'd already rang Seifer, telling him and his gang to keep an eye out for Olette and Danni, giving a quick description of the older girl. He and Seifer may have butt heads a lot in the past, but changing times meant things had to change along with them - they would never be friends - but that didn't mean they had to be enemies. Seifer had messaged back soon afterwards, the two girl's were fine, walking around by tram-central, by all accounts Olette had gotten the other female to open up somewhat.

"Nah…they're fine, Seifer spotted them around tram-central, I think Olette's talked to her a bit."

_The girls? Olette got her to talk…her - __**Danni**__!_ Soft green eyes snapped open as the confusion-laced state of semi-consciousness suddenly cleared, replaced by a sense of vulnerability. The blond rolled over, unaware of his surroundings as he made to stand from wherever he was lying, only to find himself on the floor…evidently it had only been a couch.

Hayner bit back a laugh as he watched the scene play out before him, of all Roxas' friends they'd been introduced to, he was the one that always seemed to get the short end of the stick, regardless of what was going on or happening, he always got the brunt of something or other.

"Welcome back to the land of the conscious."

Demyx grimaced as he pulled himself up off of the floor and back to his feet - so far so good - not only did he hurt everywhere as it was, but now he'd just received a face-full of the floor too. He hurt, but he didn't have the luxury of hurting right then - he needed to get to Hollow Bastion, then they could get back to Edge, then work from there on how to approach the idea that the Organization were working with Sephiroth…

"Where's Danni - is she okay?"

Hayner nodded, still eyeing the taller lad with the same air of indifference with which he had treated Danni. It wasn't that he was actually trying to be a jerk, it was only doing it so that he knew exactly where he stood, things were happening exceptionally fast, and he didn't want to get swept away in the rush before he knew if he had a leg to stand on.

"Her and Olette were down by Tram Central…you're girlfriend's fine, a bit moody-"

"You're one to talk about moodiness…"

"And that's the attitude which led to you getting your butt kicked!"

"Bite me -"

"Come close enough and I will!"

"Do you really want to try me?!"

"Oooh - is that a backbone I see developing?"

"Could be - want a closer look - _**Ahhh**_!"

Demyx gritted his teeth as he clapped his hands over his ears, pain drilled into his skull as the last of Pence's reverberating whistle faded…okay, maybe things had got a bit heated, but god almighty - his head was ready to split as it was - having someone whistle that loudly, _**while**_ standing literally alongside him did _**not**_ help the matter!

"Okay, okay…just don't do that again!"

Hayner smirked despite knowing he shouldn't, but he honestly couldn't help it. He stepped back a few paces, only then becoming aware of the steps he had crossed whilst arguing with the Nobody.

"If you're looking for a jacket - Olette gave it to Danni. I'll warrant a guess that you have to go quickly without an explanation…just try not to get your butt kicked so much again, and let Roxas know how things are here."

Demyx glanced over his shoulder, paused for a second, then shook his head; utterly bewildered by the teenager - one minute he was a walking attitude-problem - the next, he was looking out for a friend…the damn kid really needed to sort out his priorities!

"I give up trying to figure you out at this stage! But okay, with the conditions that you do the same. Things are about to get real messy, no understatement. The Organization know we were playing both sides of the fence, that's why Xemnas showed up. They've allied with others this time though. Sephiroth - tall guy, long silver hair, longer sword, massive ego - and the Remnants - three silver haired dudes, one's around my age, second's heftier but has major emotional issues, the third I think may be a girl…anyhow - they show up, do not attempt to take them on, and I am _**not**_ screwing with you Hayner - if you or Seifer or whoever else decide to confront these guys, never mind getting your butt handed to you - you're dead, plain and simple."

He held the shorter youth's gaze, refusing to avert his eyes, he knew if he did; Hayner would take his words at face value and decide to go ahead with confronting them if they did come to Twilight Town. Having massacre's and destruction like Gongaga was bad enough in Gaia itself, if it spread to other worlds, then the possibility of permanently putting a stop to the damage would be greatly decreased - that and no one wanted to see more innocent blood spilled. Finally, after what felt like an age, the younger of the two looked away and nodded, understanding that the words were not to be taken lightly or on a superficial basis.

"Why are you rushing so much?"

Demyx shrugged as headed for the door, it wasn't he was rushing- well he was really - but only because of how vulnerable of a situation they were in. The Organization knew they'd betrayed them, which now mean that they had eight Nobodies looking for their heads on platters, the eight of which had now decided to form an alliance with a mistake of nature and his supposed brothers - if any of them showed up then, he'd be killed this time, no doubt about it. Xemnas could have easily killed him in Edge, but the Superiour had been testing the water, seeing just how many of them had decided to play double agents, he'd suspected Zexion, that much was clear, and evidently he'd suspected him, but now he knew exactly who sided with who, and as for Sephiroth, if he attacked - he had no clue of the ex-SOLDIER's fighting style or abilities, at least in Edge there were the others to help back up if it was needed…

"Because of who's with me…if Sephiroth shows up here, he'll kill her, then me, and most likely everyone living here. At least if we're in Edge, there're other SOLDIERs now-"

Hayner snapped his head up at an unmerciful speed - they may live world's apart - literally, but the reputation and legacy of SOLDIER had made it's way to many of the worlds. Most knew of Sephiroth and his background, but as far as the rest of their knowledge went; the SOLDIER program had been closed down after a mass desertion years ago. Stories of 1st Class SOLDIERs were told in pubs and such, mainly by the typical traveller in the corner who had seen many of the world's, bringing news and tales from different realms.

"SOLDIER? I thought that program died years ago?"

Demyx nodded, still walking backwards towards the exit of the Usual Spot, acutely aware of the lightening sky outside - Angeal would kill him if Danni was gone for much longer - Cloud too. Since he'd showed up, Angeal had always been looking out for her without imposing too much, kind of like watching from the outside in…Cloud on the other hand was doing nothing to hide the fact being slightly protective, though it made sense in a way when one considered his past relationship to her brother…

"Uh, yeah - but Danni's 1st Class, and then two other's kinda popped up, so it's half dead half alive again."

"Wait - the girl who was with you - the one that's with Olette now, she's a SOLDIER?!"

Demyx nodded his head, not really seeing much of problem - that had been what he'd said _1__st__ Class _- what was the big deal?

"Yeah, Danni's a SOLDIER…now I really have to go, and bear in mind what I said, kay?"

Hayner looked back to Demyx, noticing that the injured young man was almost half way out of the door, suddenly getting the urge to voice the one question that had been on his mind since Danni had explained what had happened from her point of view;

"She said the two of you'd been on a date when Xemnas showed up - how exactly did you manage to land her?!"

Demyx merely stuck his tongue out and shrugged as he finally made it to the door of the Usual Spot:

"Honestly - I tripped!"

* * *

"I still kinda have some family around…Angeal looked after me most of the time when I was a kid, I spent more time at ShinRa than at home to be honest, and Genesis is like a really annoying older cousin, y'know the type of person you love to hate at times, but at the end of the day you still love despite yourself? And the people I live with, they knew my brother before he died, Cloud was really good friends with him…it's one big family of misfits, but it works."

Olette laughed as Danni rolled her eyes, it had taken some persuasion in order to get the girl to open up, but once she had the older girl was really easy to get on with, cracking jokes and being talkative, smiling and enjoying herself. She guessed that old saying of not to judge a book by its cover was true, though this young woman had come across as moody and indifferent at first, she was actually friendly and rather easy-going, if a little cautious.

Though it did shock her that she could still laugh and joke despite all that had been thrown her way, in the last hour or so that had passed since they'd left the Station Plaza, Danni had filled the younger girl in on where she was from and some details of her life, focusing on key aspects of her past and the more recent transpirations.

"Looks like we're back where we started…"

Danni glanced up as they reached the top of the hill they'd been walking, it was the Station Plaza again, it was still a new place, but the most familiar to her now…she liked how open it was, the large plateau looking out onto the endless horizon - she liked this place - she didn't know why, it was just peaceful. Families hadn't been torn apart here, they hadn't been cold-bloodedly murdered in their own homes - not yet anyhow. But what would happen if Sephiroth got here? Or any of the other worlds Olette had told her about - he would set about destroying them, as he was Gaia…she couldn't leave that happen. She couldn't, all those other worlds, it made her feel so small and irrelevant, and yet under a lot of pressure. Angeal and Genesis had discussed the possible resurrection of SOLDIER with her, and truth be told she hadn't been a fan of the idea, any memories she had of SOLDIER were not pleasant ones…but now that she looked at the idea from where she stood now - it had to be done. The could not allow so many other worlds, who were currently oblivious to the threat that existed, to pay for the mistake their world housed, it wasn't fair that they would suffer because of simply being…they had to stop Sephiroth at all costs.

"Take a day off and stop analyzing everything already…we never went back to the bar, so this is still a date!"

Demyx stuck his tongue out as the two girls spun around in unison, having finally tracked the two of them down that was - Tram Central his butt - he'd pick that bone with Hayner the next time, half an hour of walking the dimly lit streets of Twilight Town before he'd finally found the two of them, and they'd been the grand total of five minutes walk from where he'd been all along!

"_**Demyx**_!"

"Ah - Danni - chest, sore!"

Danni frowned in an exaggerated manner as she pulled back from his chest, having acted on instinct upon seeing him awake and okay, she was just glad he was okay, relieved. Too many of the people she cared for had been hurt and taken away, she didn't want him to be the next, her family were the last, that was hard enough to deal with, but no one else.

"Oh, sorry - don't _**ever**_ do that again!"

"Hey now - in all fairness - it wasn't intentional…are you okay?"

Demyx smiled as she nodded, then looked over her head, noticing Olette's knowing smirk as she nodded and turned around, he mouthed a quick message to the girl just before she started walking back down the hill that led up to the Station Plaza: "thank-you".

"Are you sure you're okay?"

Danni nodded again, pulling her chin from his hand where he had been attempting to gain a better view of her, making sure she hadn't gained any injuries in crossfire, he had kinda been half passed-out on the ground in said crossfire and hadn't seen all that much, except for the sneakers Axel had been swearing - which come to think of it were his! He'd collar the hot-head over that later thougy.

"Yeah, I'm fine - but you're not - Demyx, look at you throat!"

"Would if I could, but I don't think my head is capable of that angle.."

Danni rolled her eyes towards the heavens as the blond attempted to look at his own neck…idiot, plain and simple - but he was her idiot! An idiot that was doing well to avoid her grabbing his chin - being short sucked!

"Okay, okay - enough!"

Demyx smirked as Danni continued to struggle slightly, his arms firmly keeping hers crossed across her chest from behind - if she wanted he had no doubt she would be capable of getting out of his grip and sending him sprawling on his butt, but she knew he was only teasing really.

"Come along short-stuff…let me show you another world!"

* * *

**_A/N: Thanks for reading :P_**


	17. Ducks

**_A/N: Okay, another kinda filler chapter - enjoy! :P_**

* * *

Danni glanced around quickly as they walked out from the wispy blackness…she noted several small shops, all made mostly of wood, with a base of cement blocks or stones, everything looked as if it had been patched in places…black pipes and tanks stretched from one roof to the other, along with standing solitary on their own sinking into the stone ground, metal bars and rods protruded from parts of the low stone wall that separated the footpath in front of the shops from the sunken square in the middle…she eyed the place carefully, not sure what to make of it, then something caught the corner of her eye - a moogle?! Something she knew!

"No - wait a minute!"

She ignored Demyx words as he tried to catch her wrist, that moogle looked funny…almost transparent even, she was sure she could see the stone of the building behind it through him…she stopped however as a small golden coloured circle seemed to pop up out of nowhere beneath her feet…

"Move now - _**ahh**_!"

Demyx groaned as his butt met the stone ground with a painful jolt - great - next time he'd pay more attention to where he was standing too! He'd forgotten about those stupid claymores, stupid invention by a stupid chain-smoking pilot! Cid was so getting an earful from him when he got back, of all the stupid _**stupid**_ inventions to come up with! He glanced up as the sound of laughing met his ears…

"Oh, so you think this is funny do you Fair? I'm never going out with you again, I keep getting my butt kicked!"

"C'mon - you know I'm only teasing…so I stay away from those circle things, yeah?"

He couldn't help but laugh as he pulled himself back to his feet, watching as she side-stepped several more of the claymores, easy for her, she hadn't got hit with one! Easy to know what not to do after seeing it happen!

"They're called claymores, Cid made them, and yeah Danni, that's _**exactly**_ what you do…if you had waited, then I would've said that _**before**_ I got hit with one - you're a jinx!"

She continued to smile as she side-stepped another one of those claymore-things, they weren't so bad, rather easy to avoid to be honest, it didn't look as if they packed much a punch, they seemed to concentrate on affecting balance more so than causing actual harm…had still thrown him pretty far though!

"Where we going? And I'm not a jinx!"

Demyx stuck his tongue out as he dodged another claymore, he didn't care what anyone said - them things hated him and hated him with a vengeance! He smirked as he walked off ahead, and started down the steps that lead to Merlin's house, ignoring those three annoying ducklings as they babbled from the ice-cream shop…

"I'm going this way, and you _**are**_ a jinx! I fell over my jacket asking you out, I got my butt kicked into next week by Xemnas _**while**_ I was out with you, I passed out in Twilight Town, then fell off the sofa when I came to, Pence blew the ear off me whistling, you nearly knocked me over hugging me, while my chest was sore, and now I'm here the grand total of a few minutes and I've landed on my butt…and you say you're _**not**_ a jinx!"

She couldn't deny any of that, when she stopped to think about it - he did have a run of bad luck lately! She dodged another claymore as she tried to catch up with him, no way was she getting left behind, not in a place that sent circles and balls of light at visitors, or a place that allowed ducklings to serve ice-cream - ducklings?!

"Wait - are they -"

"Ducks - yeah - red is Huey, blue is Dewey and the green one is Louie…annoying little twerps at the best of time, then again, so's their Uncle…"

Danni laughed as Demyx pulled her along by the wrist, she wanted to see if they were annoying…Ducks though - three ducks working in an ice-cream shop…and she thought Twilight Town had been a lot to swallow!

"Haha, who's their Uncle - Donald duck?!"

"Mmm-hmm, you've met him?"

"…"

* * *

"So that dude with the big sword that was here, is now helping Xemnas and the others?!"

Axel shrugged - why the key-blade had ever chosen a kid as dense as Sora - he'd never know. They'd been at Hollow Bastion with hours and hours at this stage, having hopped through several other worlds prior, throwing off any members of the Organization that could have been following, and still the ditz was finding it hard to connect the dots!

"I'll say it slow one last time stone-for-brains: Xemnas knows we were helping you guys and the Edge gang. He showed up when Danni and Demyx were out and nearly killed Demyx. Demyx used his phone to call me, we went to help, that's how Zexion ended up injured. We're pretty certain he's joined forces with Sephiroth. Sephiroth's attacks in Gaia have dwindled, along with sightings - which backs up the possibility of him working in another world - The World That Never Was - got it memorized?!"

Sora nodded slowly, he got it that time…most of it at least, he had the whole Organization and Sephiroth thing down, and it seemed pretty plausible and possible to be honest not to mention worrying, it did raise the question as to why the Organization hadn't sought a coalition such as this prior to their downfall, one thing was still annoying him deeply though;

"Uhh - who's Danni?"

"That's it! I'll kill him…Roxas can use the Kingdom Key - nothing is worth this torture!"

The scary thing was - no one attempted to stop Axel as he stood, throwing a book at the brown-haired Key-blade klutz. Axel was spared another attempt at the youth's life as the heavy wooden door or Merlin's house was pushed open rather suddenly, only to be shut just as quickly.

Roxas shook his head as he leaned forward on the wooden table, on which he'd been sitting due to all the other seats being occupied, a slight smirk on his face as he recognised who had just entered the small dwelling and was now holding the door firmly shut…

"Uhh - Danni - watcha doin?"

"He called me a jinx…"

"M'kay."

Roxas shrugged as he leaned back on the table again, content with her answer, and really not bothered to investigate any further; he'd been like that before, but not now. He cared about Naminé more than he cared to put into words, but with the Organization looking for his head as of now, and Sephiroth in contact with them, it would only put her in danger. He had already made Sora and his two side-kicks swear not to let Naminé know where he was or that they had been talking to him…it hurt like hell, but it was safer this way, he couldn't let her get hurt because of him, if Xemnas thought for even as second that the "witch" knew where he was or had spoken to him, he would go after her and bring her to the stronghold - she was safer where she was now, at Mickey's castle, she was protected there.

Zexion elbowed Marluxia's leg from where he sat on the sofa, the pink-haired young man sitting atop the back of said furniture, both watching on in bored amusement as Sora kept one eye on Axel and the other on Danni, the latter of which still held the door to the house firmly shut, apparently attempting to keep somebody out…the normally silent nobody spoke quietly as Marluxia bent down, wondering what he wanted;

"You think she would remember he could use portals at this stage…"

As if on cue, a portal materialized in front of the mainframe Cid used to work on when he'd been at Hollow Bastion; Demyx smirked as Danni kept her weight pushed against the door to the house, he guessed she was trying to get pay-back for being referred to as a jinx. He shrugged as he turned around, seeing several faces looking at him with slight confusion - the gang were there, sporting scrapes, cuts and bruises as rewards for last night, Zexion seemed to be the worst off, with a split lip and blood-stained jeans…everyone else was a little banged up but nothing serious. He nodded as Squall did the same, acknowledging his presence - and people said he was confused at times, that kid didn't know what to call himself half the time, between Leon and Squall, talk about a split personality!

"Oh, so that's Danni…what's she doing?"

Demyx shrugged at Sora's question as he sat down on the stool in front of the mainframe computer - this was the best entertainment he'd had all night - then again he'd been passed out for most of the night, so it was pretty easy to beat that form of entertainment, still though - her face when he'd mentioned Donald had been hilarious, and he didn't care; she was a jinx, it was the only reasonable explanation for his sudden run of bad luck!

"I think she's trying to keep me outside…"

It was only then that Danni looked back over her shoulder, having recognised his voice…

"Fucking portals! That's not fair - I can't use them!"

He bit back a laugh as she crossed her arms firmly across her chest, smiling in a self-conscious fashion as several unknown faces watched her, after a stony minute or two, she waved, pulling Demyx's jacket back up on her shoulders as it slipped down, being a few sizes too big for her…

"Uhh - _**hi**_!"

Squall rolled his eyes as idle chatter began to once again fill the small house, how they could all just sit there and chat was beyond him! Axel and the other three had showed up one by one hours ago, Zexion sported a deep gash to his leg, a split lip and severely bruised shoulder - probably gained from hitting the ground with force. Marluxia sported several developing bruises and already visible black and blue marks, Roxas seemed pretty okay, bar a small cut on his left cheek, Axel showed now marks apart from some rips and tears in his clothes, and as for Demyx, well the most obvious injuries were the marks on his neck to start with - and still they just sat around and chatted with each other - did none of them realise what had just transpired?!

"You're all idiots."

Danni snapped her gaze up to meet the cool-steel blue of the young man she'd noted standing by the side of the mainframe. She wasn't sure what to make of him, his body language was stand-offish, he didn't trust her, but she was used to people like that at this stage, it seemed to be a running theme with new people and her to be honest…

"How so?"

Squall narrowed his eyes as he pushed himself from the wall he'd been leaning against - he didn't know what to make of her…one second she was being childish like the rest, the next she was being mature and direct…but Sephiroth for all that was good sake. His skills were unmatched, his status was undeniable. See-Ds were taught to both admire and fear said skills.

"Look at you all: laughing and chatting while sporting injuries, you sit there and have fun while Organization XIII and Sephiroth are out there - Sephiroth, ex-SOLDIER General, the guy that nearly killed millions - and you all just sit there."

A stone-cold silence was all that rang out after Squall's words…a silence which tempted yet forbade most within the house to talk, Axel simple averted his eyes, knowing that there was either going to be a show-down or all hell was going to break loose. That damn See-D had absolutely no idea who he was talking down to…and she was no one that liked to be talked to as if she were a kid, he knew that much for definite.

Danni kept her gaze steady, he had no idea what he was on about. Simple as that, if he thought for one second she was going to listen to a lecture concerning that nutter from the likes of him - he had another thing coming! She turned towards the mainframe as she kept her body language as neutral as possible, maybe she'd just show him?

"What do you think you're doing, that's an extremely delicate piece of technolo-"

"I wouldn't advise that…"

Demyx stepped between Danni and Squall as the latter attempted to stop the young woman from doing whatever it was she was doing on the mainframe, he wasn't being threatening, oh no…he just wanted to back up the fact that they were still there, and that Danni had arrived with him, therefore was a guest of his and if anything happened to her, he'd be pissed off…but not in a threatening manner of course.

"_**Enter Authorization Code."**_

"Oh shit…do I even remember it…"

Danni frowned as the synthesized voice rang out and she looked at the large screen…her authorization code, she'd forgotten she'd even had one! It started with a seven, she was sure of it…or had it ended with a seven? The young woman bit her bottom lip as she typed in a string of numbers, silently praying it was the right code - it was the only one that kinda sprung to mind, it had to be for something!

"_**Code Accepted - Access To Data-Bank Granted."**_

She kept her facial expression neutral as she turned back from the mainframe to face the indifferent young man, biting back the smart comments that were burning her throat as she forced herself to act professionally for once, keeping her voice purposely monotone and refusing to allow emotion into any of her words.

"Now. That a SOLDIER profile created by ShinRa for Sephiroth. It gives details concerning his training and past missions - both successful ones and failed ones. Do what you want with this information, but do not attempt to talk down to me regarding him. I have forgotten more concerning him than you will ever know. I have seen more of his capabilities than you ever will. I have witnessed first hand what he and his brothers can do. I will do all that I can possibly do, as will the rest of SOLDIER, to stop him and the Remnants, just don't insult my intelligence by talking down to me on this subject."

"I think it's about time we left, huh?"

She nodded as Demyx stood behind her and the others got to their feet, for a second or two, she was positive she'd seen a duck over by the table…there it was again!

"Hey - is that -"

"Yes Danni - it's a duck, he's the uncle of the three you spotted already…"

Danni playfully pushed Demyx as he rolled his eyes, forgetting that his chest was still somewhat tender from being hit with Xemnas' blast - yeah right, Donald Duck…she wasn't _**that**_ bad - he was only trying to kid her now because she was out of her comfort zone being in a different world!

"Yeah, _**sure**_ Demyx…go pull my other leg - it's got bells on it!"

* * *

**_A/N: I'm not overly pleased with this chapter, not sure why not, but it's done either way - anyhow, thanks for reading huns!_**


	18. Return

**_A/N: I would have had this up sooner huns, only I tend to be a procrastinator...and I tend to only procrastinate on things I shouldn't _! A whole week I had off for mid-term, and d'you think I bothered my ass typing up my Engineering folder? Of course not, I wait till Monday night, when I need it for Tuesday morning :P_**

* * *

"I can't explain exactly _**where**_ a world is - you just go there through a portal or in a gummi-ship - oh no…"

Axel stopped his explanation to the ever-inquisitive Danni, who had been trying her best to establish the exact location of Twilight Town and Hollow Bastion - it would take her to even ask a question like that - everyone else just accepted the fact that other worlds existed outside of their own, but that was _**normal**_ people! He halted dead in his tracks as he walked out of the portal…something had gone wrong in their absence - _**extremely**_ wrong, the familiar orange glow had immediately caught his eye, it was unusual for the air to be so hot and thick this early in the morning, but the orange glow soon gave logic to the oddity, flames silently licked the walls of several buildings as the air grew thick and heavy with dust and smoke…the tall young man felt himself stumble forward as someone collided with his back, having walked through the portal and straight into his back.

"Uhh - c'mon, what gives - _**No**_, no, no…not again - not here…"

Danni felt the breath leave her body immediately, almost as if she'd taken a kick to the stomach from someone, images of a ravaged and destroyed Gongaga flashed across her mind against her will…how could they have allowed this to happen in Edge?! She shook her head, forcing back the fear that was already clawing away at her self-control, she made to walk forward but halted as someone's grip closed around her wrist, she looked back over her shoulder, preparing to rip her wrist from the person and yell at them for just standing there…she already had a slight headache and felt tired, of which she put down to night of no sleep and world hopping…she stopped however as her gaze met calm oceanic orbs…

"Danni - hold it. Don't go getting separated, you have no idea if they're still around, you have no weapon, and you've had no sleep…not the best odds to stack a fight on to be honest…"

Demyx held her gaze until he felt her tense arm relax, signalling that she wouldn't act on impulse as he was sure she'd been about to do, she let her emotions over-rule her head half of the time. He was right though, as much as she hated to do so, she held back with the group. She frowned as she tried to ignore the unshakable ill feeling in her stomach as she slowly looked around the scene that had welcomed them back to Edge; flames licked at the charred and blackened walls of several buildings, almost in a taunting way, irregular sized lumps of rubble and concrete showered the ground around them, while a painful sense of vulnerability and lack of shadow announced what the rubble had once stood as - the Meteor Monument - the heart of the city had been shattered once more. But where was everyone? Cloud, Tifa - even Cid?! They should be fighting or helping…Genesis and Angeal! Where were they?! What if they had gotten hurt, caught off-guard…oh god, they had all been chatting and laughing in Hollow Bastion while Edge had taken the brunt of The Nightmare…Squall had been right.

The young woman spun on her heels as she picked up on the haunting sound of a sharpened blade being drawn, her mind immediately flashed upon the image of her ex-mentor, she felt every muscle in her body tense up as she prepared to dodge a blow - but she needn't have worried so much, the person wasn't Sephiroth, nor any of the Remnants…four individuals stood, broadswords raised towards her and the other five guys. Danni faltered as she took in the uniforms, the helmets, the insignia on their belts, their trademark broadswords, and the dog-tags, which hung loose around each of their necks - even hers…

Axel frowned as he kept his eyes on the four guys…they hadn't been there a second ago, and he hadn't heard them approaching, he didn't like surprises like that! He bent down the handful of inches, which separated him height from Danni's, asking the most obvious question that suited the moment.

"You know them, coz I don't?"

"_SOLDIERs_…one 2nd Class, three 3rd Classes…hold on a minute…"

Danni kept her eyes trained on the front most SOLDIER, the 2nd Class, if he had any brain, he would have noticed the Mako in her eyes, unless he had already…she smiled as caught the hint of a smile on his face, slightly hidden in the shadow of his helmet, realization quickly dawned on the youth as she almost laughed out loud;

"Kunsel!"

"The pain-in-the-butt returns…"

Danni nodded half-jokingly as the 2nd Class SOLDIER lowered his broadsword while reaching up to remove his helmet, revealing a shock of messy dark brown hair and kind cerulean irises that glimmered with the telltale shine of Mako that gave a SOLDIER member, past or present, away. Another one…another one from back then - Kunsel had been one of the few members within the SOLDIER force who had been aware of her and Zack's relationship; he had literally been one of a handful along with Lazard.

"Where's Angeal, is he okay? What happened to this place?"

The older male nodded as he signalled for the three SOLDIERs behind him to lower their broadswords, knowing that if Danni were with these group of young males, then they could be trusted - that and the one with red hair reminded him frighteningly of a certain Turk…

"Angeal is fine; he has a few stitches on his arm, but nothing major. He and everyone else are at ShinRa, trying to organize the madness I guess - Sephiroth and the three twerps showed up here shortly after you left, no one expected it so he had the advantage of surprise - we decided now was a good time to reinstate the force…there were a few casualties, but you're looking at the worst of the damage, it's mainly superficial - it was lucky."

_**Lucky**_…he had no idea. If what she was looking at was the actual worse that Sephiroth had managed to exact on the city, then they were more than lucky…try divine intervention! She looked around once more, the initial shock had worn off at this stage, making it easier for her to assess the situation as she should have done upon stepping out of the portal instead of panicking…it still didn't help to subdue the twisting sensation in the pit of her stomach though.

"Reinstate?"

Kunsel simply nodded - people seemed to be having a hard time believing that. Though one could hardly blame them, SOLDIER deserted and fell into shadow while its top member almost destroyed everything they had held near and dear, and now that the force had stepped from out from its' shadowed past - people honestly did not know how to react to it.

"Yeah, the whole force all which deserted along with Genesis, even its director."

Her smile only seemed to widen - Lazard - she had always thought she'd hate the idea of SOLDIER returning; she had been a forced part of it before and didn't relish the idea of having to abide by the force again. But she was happy - she was _**deciding**_ for herself that she wanted to take part this time, she wasn't being forced in any way, and even if she did decide that she wanted nothing further to do with SOLDIER, she would not be capable of living with herself, not after witnessing all Sephiroth had to answer for and all the innocent worlds and lives which were at stake…she had always been told, from her earliest memories: Once a SOLDIER, always a SOLDIER…she had always believed this as a form of threat from ShinRa, having seen how a defected SOLDIER was kept in line or how they were kept as a liability to the company, but the words meant so much more; it wasn't a job, it was a way of living. Despite having left ShinRa over six years ago, she'd never stopped leaving SOLDIER have an influence on her life, between constantly going back to her books which she'd kept in a stack on her bedroom floor in Gongaga and analysing situations, being capable of making competent and risky decisions in a split second…pride also played a major part - SOLDIER had all but abandoned their pride when they'd deserted and allowed Sephiroth his way, they had to reclaim that once-fabled pride and reputation once more.

"_Yo - Pip-Squeak!"_

Danni snapped her head around instantly, she knew that voice, she knew it so well despite the years which had passed since she had last spoken to the owner of it, and that nickname had been his teasing joke towards her - it had been an almighty pain, but that was just how big brothers were…nothing but rubble met her gaze, she felt her heart sink as she came back to reality with a bang - she'd heard his voice, she was full sure of it, even though she knew only too well it wasn't possible. The young woman shook her head as she turned back to face the SOLDIERs and others, ignoring their questioning looks as her stomach began to perform flips worthy of Olympic medals, blinding pain shot through her head, causing her to sway dangerously - hands on the back of her shoulders prevented the ground from rushing up to meet her. Demyx frowned as he kept his hands on her shoulders, she didn't look great…her face had paled considerably, causing the glow in her eyes to appear much brighter than it actually was.

"Danni - you okay?"

"I'm gonna be sick…"

The words had only left her lips when she bent over and retched violently, expelling the contents of her stomach onto the cracked pavement below. The bending over only served to aggravate the pain in her head…she clenched her teeth together as white-hot pain continued to pulse wave after wave within her head - this wasn't right, she'd been ill before, but this was new, and not in a good way. She felt tears prick her eyes as she clamped her hands over her ears as she tried her best to block out the noises, which only seemed to fuel the raging fire in her mind.

Demyx caught her frame as she fell forward, having lost her balance as she retched dryly. He paused only for a second or two before slipping one of his arms beneath her knees while keeping the other behind her neck; lifting her slight weight, Danni moaned lowly as she turned her head into his chest, attempting to block out everything, her stomach was twisting and knotting over itself, her head was threatening to split and her eyes were burning…

Kunsel reacted immediately as the female SOLDIER was lifted by the taller blond, he recognised the telltale symptoms almost immediately, the most evident of which being the sudden development of her ailment, but he needed to make sure first.

"Danni - look at me kiddo…"

She fought against it, but someone forced her eyes opened, if only for a second - the nineteen-year-old snapped her head away as excruciating pain exploded in her head, she once again turned her face back to Demyx's chest, finding a slight escape in the warmth and darkness. He had seen enough though.

"Get her to ShinRa medics now!"

That was all the instruction he had needed, without any questions Demyx summoned a portal, for the umpteenth time in twenty-four hours, walking through it's familiar blackness as the young woman in his arms allowed a small, almost pitiful, cry to escape her mouth, turning as far as she could into his chest. The young man felt an odd pang in his chest as she clutched onto his shirt…

Kunsel turned back to the four remaining youths, having already been given basic descriptions of them from Angeal; he directed his speech to one of the tallest young men, finding a slight comfort in his familiar features.

"I'm gonna guess you're Reno's brother? He and the others are at ShinRa, I suggest going there, they want to build up profiles on some Organization, and apparently you guys have knowledge in that area."

Axel nodded slowly, seeing the logic in the request; Sephiroth had shown up in close time with the Organization, ShinRa must have assumed they were in coalition. The sooner the profiles were done and entered into the data banks, the sooner Junon and WRO would be aware of what exactly they were dealing with other than Sephiroth and the three Remnants. However, he was still taken aback by the sudden happenings, especially Danni.

"Fine, what happened her, will she be okay?"

The 2nd Class held the young man's emerald gaze for a stony second, silently asking himself the exact same question. He had witnessed her ill before, but she had never suffered as much as what he had just witnessed, he'd seen others suffer that much though, which was what worried him deeply, none of those individuals made recoveries, instead they had digressed further…but at least the medical staff of ShinRa were made up mostly of past employees, so therefore had a knowledge of SOLDIER and happenings within the force. Tyler was still there apparently, which was good - he had taken care of any of her medical needs in her younger years, he would be able to make a more accurate assessment and set about how to approach the problem.

"I'm not sure…it's severe Mako poisoning."

* * *

**_A/N: Any thoughts? Thanks for reading huns!_**


	19. Ill

**_A/N: Heya huns! Would have had this up sooner, only I had Mock Exams starting today, so the last few days have been a blur of crammed notes and definitions - Irish = Fail, Biology = Pass :P_**

* * *

He had been here a few times before, mostly after what had happened to Gongaga, but the pristine sterilized corridors had always been relatively empty, with mostly staff being present and about, then again; circumstances had changed a bit since then, especially today. The medical wing had been given a reason to test it's capabilities to their limit. The hallways had become extremely claustrophobic and noisy, white-coated individuals seemed to criss-cross the wide corridor, meticulously weaving between patients and people waiting on patients…Edge had only one other hospital, built by the WRO and funded by ShinRa, but its power supply had been damaged by a stray materia blast, damaging the back-up generators also. ShinRa had opened their medical wing to the public as a last ditch option to deal with the injuries. A number of people lay on metal slabs in the company mortuary, two or three of which wore blue-navy uniforms, signalling their rank of 3rd Class SOLDIERs, the rest were innocent citizens that had been caught in crossfire or attacked by Shadow Creepers.

"Ahhh…"

Demyx glanced down to the figure in his arms as she shifted her weight and groaned, the dense noise of the staff and patients ringing loud in her ears despite her attempts to block them out with her hands…she just wanted to go home, go asleep, she didn't want to train today…she didn't feel well, and Sephiroth wouldn't care if she was sick, she'd just get yelled at again…

"Angeal…I just want to sleep, don't make me go…"

He felt his jaw tighten; now she was scaring him - she'd referred to him as Angeal - she wasn't making any sense, he didn't like this; Danni was always smiling, laughing, cheeky…not this. Not lost within her own mind, not hurting like this. Demyx glanced around again, his eyes moving from one white-coated individual to the next until he spotted a familiar face.

"Tyler!"

Slate-grey eyes shot up upon hearing his name, he instantly recognized the tall blond youth, having seen plenty of him when Danni had been injured after Gongaga, his gaze quickly switched from Demyx's face to the person in his arms, without much thought on the matter, he'd crossed the busy corridor, his mind already going through Danni's medical records.

"What happened, I thought you guys weren't here for the attack?"

Demyx nodded as he spoke; following the older man as he walked a few paces ahead, indicating for him to follow suit.

"We arrived back just after apparently - she had a headache, then started getting ill - a SOLDIER, Kunsel I think, he tried to get her to look at him, but she pulled away…"

He finished explaining as he lay the semi-conscious Danni down on the bed of the private room, stopping only as he undid her hand which still gripped his shirt, to which she reacted by transferring her grip to his arm, opening her eyes as she met his gaze for only a second or two before she clamped them shut again, hiding her face in his chest once more as she tried to alleviate the searing feeling…

"Please don't leave me…"

He smiled reassuringly as he pushed back some stray strands of hair, which had escaped the elastic-tie, back behind her ear, whispering lowly as he held her, becoming aware of how tense her frame was and how scared she sounded.

"Don't worry, I'm gonna stay right here Danni…"

Tyler watched as the young man soothed the confused Danni, the kid genuinely cared for her…she deserved someone who did after everything that had happened. Demyx was a good kid, a bit stupid at times, but something told him there was a lot more to the blond than people realised or what he let on, the idiot persona was a mask; he was a hell of a lot smarter than he let others believe. The older man shook his head as he snapped from his idle thoughts, setting about trying to assess what exactly was wrong with the young SOLDIER…

"Hold her arms, I can promise you she isn't going to like this."

Demyx did as he was instructed, choosing to trust the doctor above his queries and questions. He watched on in silence as Tyler found a vein in Danni's left arm, the nineteen-year-old reacted immediately, attempting to pull her arm away, she hated needles, despised them with an utter irrefutable vengeance! Demyx felt a twinge of guilt for his role in the restraining - but at least something was being done in an attempt to help her.

Tyler watched until a small flash of crimson signalled that he had found the vein, then went about inserting an IV, along with taking a blood sample, then placing it down - he had a pretty good idea as to what was wrong with her, but he needed to make sure first - all the while he continued to get a response from the young woman, trying to bring her around to the side of full consciousness.

"Danni - it's Tyler - can you tell me what happened you? Demyx is here, he told me you had a headache - how long have you had it?"

It did not matter how many questions he asked or what way he worded them, she wasn't going to voice a competent answer, he wasn't even sure if she could register his words. Nevertheless, he continued to talk to her as he checked her over, checking her temperature and blood pressure - both of which were sky high - he then attempted to check her focus and light recognition, but before he could; she snapped her head away rapidly, finding solace in the owner of the comforting voice…

"Hey, hey…Danni, calm down hun - no one's gonna hurt you - I promise."

Tyler stood back as he watched the nobody tuck her head beneath his chin, holding her as she shook and cried quietly - he knew what was wrong…he'd seen her act like this before, years ago back when she'd been only a little kid, though the person comforting her then had been another SOLDIER. The man inclined his head as several dark bruises upon the blonds' neck caught his eye…they looked almost like finger imprints; he made a mental note to collar Demyx about them later. Tyler glanced down to the blood sample he had taken from the youth, seeing exactly what he had known he would. He sighed as he placed the sample in his pocket and hit the light switch, knowing why Danni was reacting so violently to anyone or anything being at her head or eyes…he spoke as a set of soft green eyes looked at him.

"Severe Mako-poisoning…the most we can do is keep he body hydrated and try not to aggravate her symptoms further, other than that it has to run it's course…care to explain about your neck?"

"Not particularly, but; Xemnas paid a visit, I got my butt kicked…it's not as sore as it looks though - will she be okay?"

Tyler exhaled heavily, running through her medical records mentally, trying to see if there was anything in them, he could use to benefit the youth; mako poisoning…it took several forms and severities. She had always been prone to it for some reason, more so than any other member of the force, but it had always been a mild form of the poisoning, constituting of a sick stomach, a slight headache, at worst; it affected her balance or caused her to black out for a short period. Why it had taken such a severe form this time, he honestly could not say, though it was possible that the increased presence of Jenova Cells had led to it, but he had to work that out for sure first.

"I can't say for definite, she's always been prone to milder forms of poisoning, but she always got over it relatively quickly, it's more severe this time though…I need to inform Angeal and check on other patients…"

Demyx nodded, standing up as he lay Danni back gently on her bed, she'd fallen asleep against his chest, he hid a yawn behind his hand as he removed her sneakers before pulling the bed sheet up partially on her frame, then looked back to the doctor as he spoke;

"Can I stay here?"

"Of course."

* * *

"Run molecular scans. Use Danni's on-file samples and search for similar beings. If a location is found, inform me immediately."

Two technicians nodded, and then turned on their heels, heading away from the Director and towards the nearest computer terminal. Lazard watched as the two set about his orders. He mentally ran through a checklist in his head, making sure he was using the resources, which had suddenly become available to their full advantage. Rufus had already set about changing facilities of the 49th floor of the expansive headquarters, its exterior was greatly different to what it had been in Midgar, and the interior however had been modelled on the interior of the Midgar base, mimicking most facilities and layouts to a tee.

That was good, they would have a floor to operate from relatively soon, most of the personnel profiles, which had been eradicated from the data banks in an attempt to cover up the mass desertion, was currently being re-entered. As soon as that was done and modifications to the designated floor, which shouldn't take too long, he could start running missions and assignments for the SOLDIERs. Many of the men were 2nd Class and 3rd Class SOLDIERs, the only 1st Class SOLDIERs, which remained, were Genesis, Angeal and Danni - Sephiroth didn't count. The man suddenly looked around as he pulled himself from his own sporadic thoughts: Angeal and Danni - where were they?

He'd seen Angeal alright, but it looked as if the SOLDIER had since decided to disappear, and as for Danni - he hadn't seen her around at all, Genesis had been the one to relay the news that she was alive after Gongaga, and that she was in Edge having been brought there by ShinRa, but the Union Executive was yet to see the girl. He threw a look over his shoulder as he spotted the most likely of candidates to know the whereabouts of either SOLDIER.

"Danni and Angeal?"

Genesis looked up, a confused look, which in itself was an oddity to see on the SOLDIER, upon his face as he tried to think of the answer, he quickly became pissed off at himself for the length of time it took him to remember - there were too many things going on!

"Tyler called him to the medical wing - Danni's ill, mako poisoning."

* * *

"Where is she?"

Tyler turned as he heard Angeal's voice. Talk about a major bout of déjà vu, it was just as before the mass desertion, though that was not exactly a good thing.

"Room 7, Demyx is there…it's not good news Angeal."

He had not meant to sound so cold and direct. Minerva knew he had a soft spot for the girl, developed during her many visits to the medical wing as a youngster. However, he also knew that the bond between her and Angeal was not like the usual bond between senior and pupil, and therefore no point in sugar-coating his explanation.

"Blood pressure and temperature are both dangerously high, she's barely responsive, extremely sensitive to light, I can't even get near her eyes to check how bad they are, I tried to but she snapped away and hid her face in Demyx's chest. On top of that, her blood sample's split."

Angeal nodded, quickly understanding Tyler's words without any need for elaboration. He watched as the doctor held up a small tube containing the young woman's blood sample. He took note of the almost metallic grey-blue layer beneath the crimson. The mako in the sample had increased to the state where it had become more dense than the blood, causing it to lay at the bottom while the blood rested on top of the excess mako, mimicking what had happened inside of the nineteen-year-olds' circulatory system. Angeal thought back over the past week; both Cloud and Tifa had informed him of how Danni had obtained the new semi-healed wound on her eyebrow by colliding with the corner of a table after passing out, that alone was a mild symptom, other than that however, there had been no telltale signs of mako poisoning.

"How could her level have jumped that significantly without anyone noticing sooner?"

It was here that Tyler sighed - that was the million Gil question - and what had been bugging him, if he could determine the cause of the increase in mako level, then he could go about trying to prevent it from happening again. He had a good idea as to why the poisoning was so severe and so sudden, but had no actual concrete proof other than his hypothesis. Nevertheless, he decided to run it past the SOLDIER.

"I have no concrete proof of this, but it seems plausible. Because of the J-Project, Danni's cells and blood are fused with both mako and Jenova cells. Jenova Cells, however, go mostly unnoticed in her a body in regards to symptoms. It is my medical opinion that with the heightened level of Jenova Cells present as of late, between you, Genesis, Sephiroth, the Remnants, and Cloud, it has caused an increase in her cells. Jenova Cells operate on one foundation action; they seek other cells to reunite. Because of the short time between her birth and first mako induction, the mako fused with her cells and with the Jenova Cells. Which means when her Jenova Cells increase their level, so too does the mako in her system."

It did indeed sound plausible, and possibly one of the only explanations, which could explain why her level had jumped to such a drastic degree, though Angeal had to admit; it did cause some guilt to know that his presence could be one of the factors contributing to the state she was in now.

* * *

"Danni…"

His voice was low and lacking of its usual cheer as he kept his shimmering amethyst irises trained on her prone frame. Watching as her eyes continued to dart back and forth behind their lids, showing that the sleep she was in was far from a relaxed one. This wasn't fair! He didn't care about what the hell the Ancients were playing at anymore - this was not fair.

"I'm sick of this…I hat this so much it's not funny. Having to watch on while the people I love get hurt, killed even. And all I can do is watch. My parents are dead, and I can't even talk to them because we're kept in this limbo…"

Aerith remained silent; it was so odd to hear him talk that way. Quiet, controlled, not allowing himself to lose his temper or show emotion in his words - yet the pain and heartache was still more than evidently present despite his monotone words. She had to trust the Ancients though…they knew what they were doing and she trusted them wholeheartedly, even if she too were tired of the indecisiveness of their limbo states.

"She's my sister…my baby-sister, and I can't do a single thing to help her…look at her, she's scared, she's confused, she's really ill - and I'm just standing here watching and talking."

Zack groaned as he put both his hands on the back of his head, not knowing what to do with himself. He began walking around in aimless circles, it didn't matter - people wouldn't see him, they couldn't. And doing anything was better than just standing and watching, it was killing him inside not being able to protect his little sister. He glanced down to his right as he registered the sound of heavy breathing; Zack smirked slightly as he noticed a youth asleep in the chair…

"He won't treat her bad. He won't ever hurt her either…he'll look after her and protect her."

A few stony seconds dragged past Aerith's words, the half-Cetra having noticed who her partner had been looking to. She was right - he knew that really. But it was his job to give the kid a hard time! Demyx had already more than proven his willingness to protect her, the marks on his neck stood testament to that fact, and even that he was still there with her too, albeit asleep.

"I know he will…coz if he doesn't, then I'm gonna be his own personal poltergeist!"

* * *

**_A/N: I'll try and get the next chapter up as soon as possible, I have exams again all next week, but I'll try get this up as soon as I can - thanks for reading huns!_**


	20. Babydoll

**_A/N: Hi! :P Sorry for the little delay - had exams all last week, so far I haven't failed any:P_**

* * *

He had looked in and out a couple of times in the hours that had passed since talking with Tyler. But never staying for long, he had wanted to no doubt, but responsibilities had pulled him elsewhere. Before he'd realised it, darkness had fallen once more outside. Rufus had sent the four remaining youths home, taking an odd bout of compassion for the exhausted four. They'd gone from fighting, to different worlds, to back to Edge to discover a worse predicament in less than twenty-four hours. Zexion had already constructed basic profiles on the remaining members of the Organization, having known the most about them as one of the original apprentices and founding members. It hadn't taken the young man long to do so, the others, apart from Roxas had attempted to help. By help, they had started randomly shouting out derogatory comments about each of the other members, particularly Xemnas and Larxene. This had gone on for the better part of half an hour before Zexion had uncharacteristically allowed his temper to rise and told them all to kindly go away in terms, which had earned him glares from Barret and Tifa…apparently Denzel, and Marlene had been listening quite intently to what had been going on.

Angeal smirked as he opened the door to Danni's room, immediately noticing Demyx still asleep in the chair next to her bed, albeit having shifted slightly. The kid had been there all day, and for that, the SOLDIER was grateful. Admittedly, he hadn't thought much of the youth upon first meeting him; stereotypical youngster who took most situations as a joke, not the brightest crayon in the box - but he was gladly being proven wrong as time went on.

"Demyx…"

The blonde's eyes shot open almost immediately; apparently, he hadn't been sleeping very deeply. Confusion immediately clouded his eyes as they wandered quickly around the dimly lit room, finally coming to rest upon the male who had woken him as realization took control.

"Angeal…sorry - fell asleep…"

Angeal nodded, smiling though as he did so. He watched as the youngster blinked a few times, wiping sleep from his eyes as he stood up and stretched, taking care not to make too much noise. Demyx raised an eyebrow questioningly as a hand was placed on this shoulder.

"Go home. The President has already sent Axel and the others home, Zexion's set up the profiles of the Organization…go home, get some sleep, you're exhausted. I'll call if anything changes."

He wanted to argue, he had promised Danni he would stay right there, but he knew he needed some proper sleep before he passed out. He wanted to stay, but he also understood that it was not his place to over-rule the SOLDIER. He'd listened to how Danni spoke of him, he was aware that he was the equivalent of a second father to her, and that things had been stressed lately, he wasn't going to be in the way.

"Okay…thanks Angeal."

Another portal, all the time he had been in the Organization, he had never used portals so much as he had in the last day or so. At least there was a comfortable bed waiting on the other side…

Silence fell quickly after the black portal had dissipated into the air, unknowingly mimicking the rest of the building outside her room. It was already relatively late; the majority of the staff had gone home, leaving only the skeleton-shift - the minimal amount of people necessary to run the headquarters - and Tyler. The middle-aged man had refused to go home yet, despite having already pulled a double shift. Angeal found himself somewhat grateful to the man; he was the most familiar with Danni's medical records and history. The SOLDIER sighed as he spoke quietly, almost to himself.

"SOLDIER will always come second to you baby-doll…"

**_Baby-doll_**…the last time he had called her that, she had been a child - a young girl who'd been asleep as he lay her down on her own bed in Gongaga. The one thing he found himself truly regretting was not waiting long enough to say goodbye to her then - but time had been short. ShinRa had already discovered his and Danni's absences - Reno had accidentally sent the alert fro them on all company airwaves and emails - as opposed to the singular airwave the Turks utilized. To that very day Angeal remained in two minds about the unpredictable Turk - that supposed apparent mistake had given him a head-start away from Gongaga, giving him enough time to back-track and set the trail in a completely different direction, taking it towards Banora. The wiry young man had made the alert from his chopper; he doubted it had been an accident - if there was one thing the slums-native had known, it was the function of literally every switch, button and control within the chopper.

He had never really left her, at least not to the extent that she believed. Granted, he'd had no contact with her until he had found her in Gongaga. However, he had watched. Always from a distance. He had intervened with the venturing ShinRa personnel who had attempted to locate the young girl ever couple of months. Every time he had seen her, she had changed and grown up that much more, until a beautiful young woman had replaced the little girl.

He'd wanted her to forget about ShinRa…about SOLDIER, about it all - but it down to a bad experience and put it all behind her. But that had been wishful thinking on his part. Extremely wishful now that he thought of it. Once a SOLDIER, always a SOLDIER - regardless of personal wishes or ways of life - it always dragged you back in somehow or other.

Angeal watched silently as the nineteen-year-old turned and tossed a small bit, she didn't look as pale as she had earlier - a good sign at least. Tyler had checked her over again and was satisfied to leave her home when she came to, under the condition that she took things easy for a while and wasn't to participate in any SOLDIER activities which may develop until he'd cleared her to do so.

Things had been odd between him and her lately, though for what reasons - he honestly had no idea. It was like a glass wall in a sense - he could see right through to her, but yet still couldn't touch. He hated the slight awkwardness, the hint of uneasiness - it wasn't right. Not when he was capable of knowing her almost more than she knew herself.

Angeal rested his chin atop his hands, leaning his elbows on his knees as he watched her. Becoming lost in his own memories and thoughts once more. It was funny how things had worked out in a way - Zack and Danni. He'd always had Danni, though he had not exactly jumped at the being told he was being appointed guardian of a mere infant, he accepted it. Looking back, Lazard had known exactly what he'd been doing choosing the Banora-native as guardian. Then when Zack came along - things had gotten extremely complicated. Between a hyperactive teenager and a cheeky pre-teen, and keeping both away from each other…he'd had his work cut out for him. Danni's training was usually switched to field missions, Junon, or she was allowed home for a period of time while Zack's training was on the SOLDIER floor. Despite that though, there had been times when they had both been on the floor at the same time - at those times, it had been all hands on deck for those who knew both were siblings.

Angeal glanced up as a small moan escaped the young woman's mouth, he watched as her eyelids flickered a few times before opening. She shut them just as fast though, taking her time to adjust to the slight brightness of the room…a telltale sign of a SOLDIER was their eyes. Mako-eyes. They were the one visible outlet of mako in a SOLDIERs' body, and also the most sensitive area to mako poisoning - becoming noticeably brighter and extremely sensitive to light.

"Hey there Baby-doll…"

The fact that he'd spoken his words so softly and that nickname immediately told her who else was in the room. Danni cringed slightly as she looked sideways - the room was already mostly in darkness with only a small light by the side of her bed giving off light, however it still seemed painfully bright in her eyes - she smiled as her gaze rested upon him. She was grateful that he had chosen to speak quietly, her head was still pretty sore, albeit not as painful as earlier.

"Angeal…how long have I been out?"

Angeal shook his head, pushing her back down as she attempted to stand from her bed, he disregarded her evident disapproval at being treated in such away, and all she had to do was wait until Tyler checked her over and discharged her.

"I'm not a kid!"

"No, you're not. But you're not an adult yet either."

Danni took a breath; ready to start arguing immediately, but suddenly shut her mouth just as fast. A sudden thought occurring to her. Why did everything have to end in an argument lately? Things had turned toxic somewhere along the lines, and she couldn't remember where. She glanced up to meet his gaze, immediately feeling a glass wall forming rapidly.

"When did we start arguing like this…we never used to."

Angeal shrugged as he stood, remaining silent as he sent an email to Tyler from his phone, and then turned back to face the youth…things had gotten rocky when she had started to bottle things up and refused to admit certain things to herself. It ended tonight though, one way or another they'd get past that wall - he had to - he cared too much to watch her slowly cut herself off.

"You've been out all day, Demyx was here - I sent him home, the kid's wrecked…"

The SOLDIER trailed off as the door of the room opened, allowing a white-coated individual to step in. He stepped outside of the door as Tyler checked Danni over before discharging her. By the time he stepped back inside the room, the nineteen-year-old had already pulled on her sneakers and jacket, Angeal watched as she unconsciously played with the small golden locket that hung around her neck.

"He's not coming back -"

"Don't you think I know that?!"

And that right there was the source of their arguments. Any mere or slight mention of Zack from him or anyone else and her temper immediately got the better of her. However, he decided he wasn't going to let his patience match her temper - it would only make matters worse. Angeal simply shook his head as he walked back out the door, knowing that she would inevitably follow him.

"No Danni - I don't actually think you do."

Danni shot her head around as his words rang out particularly clear in her ears, she cursed under her breath as despite her better judgment, she followed him out the door. White, painfully bright walls affronted her vision. She quickly closed her eyes…the pristine white corridor causing her extreme discomfort.

"Ahhh - wherever you are - don't walk away from me!"

"Did you think I'd honestly walk off on you like that?"

Angeal smiled as several nosy patients of the medical wing stuck their heads out of their different wards, each doing nothing to hide his or her evident curiosity and intrusiveness. The SOLDIER looked to his left as an elderly woman voiced her opinion, her eyes trained directly on Danni.

"Typical…no respect for others nowadays…"

"Well maybe if you weren't such a nosy old b- "

The remainder of her retort was lost to incomprehensible muffled words as Angeal placed his hand over her mouth, smiling at the elderly woman despite his own mental retorts to her blatant ignorance. He placed his free hand on Danni's shoulder and steered her ahead of him, trying his best not to laugh as the youngster continued her muffled insults at the old female - SOLDIER had just become an operable force once more - ShinRa were officially announcing it to the media tomorrow, though the force and company still had a massive about of repair work to do to their reputation…and here he was with a hand over her mouth muffling what he was sure was the same type of language which had earned Zexion the death glares earlier.

"What were you going to call her?"

Danni looked around quickly, noticing the new corridor they were in to be considerably less bright than the medical wing. After a second or two, she recognised it as the main corridor, which led through to Turks floor and to the front reception of the ShinRa building. She turned back to see Angeal standing a foot or so away from her, his arms crossed across his chest with an amused smile on his face - she simply shrugged, trying not to smile herself.

"A nosy old biddy."

Angeal nodded exaggeratedly, still smiling as he gave her a knowing look - after a minute or two, Danni felt herself smile as she shook her head, giving into his look.

"Okay, okay - a nosy old bitch - it's the truth though!"

He just shook his head again, laughing lightly as he stepped forward, walking purposely slow up the long corridor. He continued to talk quietly to the young woman as she followed a few paces behind him.

"Danni…he's not coming back, and you have no reason to feel guilty."

Danni unintentionally slowed in her steps, her eyes remaining trained onto the floor that passed beneath her feet…how did he know how she felt? What did he know? He hadn't lost his big brother. He hadn't lost the person he had looked up to…but that wasn't his fault. She blinked as the floor became distorted in her eyes, she found herself both surprised and shocked by the tears that left hot trails down her cheeks before plummeting to the floor below. Was she still actually that upset…a strong arm wrapped around her shoulders as he kept her walking.

"C'mon Baby-doll…you know you can tell me anything."

"I…I miss him Angeal - and I hate that I can't blame anyone. It was Rufus' Dad, not him. And as willing to take the blame as Cloud is - it's still not his fault…I hate that all I ever did was lie to him."

He'd always hated the silence - silence screamed answers in a more stable form than words, silence was incapable of lying or bending, a trait that was all too common in words. He smiled as he thought of the wiry youth…the amount of katanas and broadswords that kid had broken in simulations was astounding, but Zack had only grinned and shrugged in response, he had never stopped working and trying to reach above the level, he had attained. Always reached for his dreams…dreams…had he honestly forgotten how highly he had held that philosophy?

"He was never happy with just doing enough to get by, sure, he loved his job - but he was a hell of a lot smarter than what people gave him credit for - that's why I gave him the buster sword; if I didn't use it for fear of wasting it, then that itself was a waste…he was smart enough to know most things were gifts and weren't to be wasted………I miss his laugh the most though. It wasn't your fault that things were kept from him, and he knows that Danni."

Now she knew why she'd missed him so much - he always knew and had always known exactly what to say to when she was down. All of the years she had spent in ShinRa, it was the days off she remembered the most - the days they'd gone into the city, even down to the slums on several occasions, or had simply hung out on the SOLDIER floor. Danni stopped walking as she pulled away from his arm, reaching behind her neck as she undid the clasp of her locket, holding it out as she spoke with a smile.

"Open it…"

Angeal eyed the locket carefully, knowing what picture hid between the metal. Her and Zack on her birthday all those years ago. She had shown it to him before, and Zack had used the picture as a background on his phone…one small picture that stood as testament to how life had been before all this. All it showed was a young man laughing as he bent down the few feet that had separated him from his little sister for a photo opportunity - but you could see the happiness in their eyes. Along with the Mako. Zack had quickly learned of the trademark SOLDIER mako-eyes, and question the glow that was so obvious in the irises of his baby sister - something which had been quickly explained with the help of, albeit falsely, by the Mako-reactor explosion in Gongaga. Angeal raised an eyebrow in a questioning manner as he continued to look between Danni and the locket.

"Danni, you've shown me the picture before - "

"Just open it…please?"

He decided it was best to humour her, if she wanted him to open it, then okay. Angeal opened the locket to find the picture he'd expected looking straight up at him - just like always. He took a breath to point out the obvious, but stopped short as a small clip mechanism on the very edge of the picture caught his attention. He remained silent as the small frame in which the picture was held unclipped and became moveable on the hinge of the locket, revealing another picture on the other side.

Danni smiled as she noticed the surprise in his eyes - she'd never shown anyone else the other picture - it had been her own little secret, one that she'd kept willingly - the people who had meant the most to her had always hung around her neck, lingering close to her heart.

"I never showed it to you before - I missed you - more than you'll ever know Angeal."

Angeal smiled, feeling a tug at his rusted heartstrings as she turned and walked on ahead, he looked back down at the small picture, instantly remembering the scene staring back up at him, a young Danni sitting atop his shoulders, both smiling and laughing.

* * *

**_A/N: Okay - things are going to speed up a little after this chapter huns. Mainly because I wrote the ending scene(which I have on paper) for my english exam - seven pages:P Mind you, I had to twist it a little - my English teacher wouldn't know what KH or FF was if it kicked her up the arse. But I kinda realised where I was going with this now. Anyhow, thanks for reading huns!_**


	21. Jinx

**_A/N: Okay, took longer than I thought it would, and I'm still not happy with this chapter, but at least it's done :P_**

* * *

"Did anyone get a location?"

Genesis shook his head in response to Danni's question. Not yet anyhow. Over the last three weeks, SOLDIER had been attempting to lock onto a location of Sephiroth or any of the Remnants, though as of yet not a single location had been tied to any, not even any false leads. It was both a good thing and a bad thing, good in the sense that it didn't foreshadow an immediate onslaught, but it also opened up the probability of him going between worlds - which definitely wasn't a good possibility to have on the table…it opened a lot more routes and likely fatalities.

Danni frowned, pretending to clean a glass as Angeal watched her and Genesis - if he knew she was talking about SOLDIER, there would be hell to pay for - she wasn't allowed any look-in without Tyler's clearance, and she wouldn't get that without Angeal's first off - and his opinion was pretty clear on the matter lately - no. She looked back to Genesis as she feigned a pleading gesture.

"Talk to him _**please**_ - I'm bored out of my skull!"

Danni groaned as she put her head down on the cool wood of the bar's counter - it was the honest truth - things were so dead lately! Demyx and the rest had accepted Rufus' jobs and now spent most of their time at ShinRa, Angeal and Genesis were under Lazard's orders again, though at least the running of the force had straightened itself out in the last three weeks - Rufus had finished the alterations to the new SOLDIER floor, fitting it was several simulation rooms, accomodation and an off-duty lounge. Cloud had also been spending his time split between deliveries and helping with some training at ShinRa…

"Why was Tifa at the medical wing last week?"

She smirked as she lifted her head back up from the counter, quickly shaking her head as Genesis awaited an answer to his question, she stuck her tongue out in a manner which conveyed the fact that she was not about to spill on the reason behind the bar-owner's trip to the medical wing. Tifa had only just found out herself, and only told Cloud a few days ago - his face had been so priceless!

"You know why…what about the Wutai-girl with Valentine? "

"None of your business!"

Danni stuck her tongue out once more as the door of the bar swung open, revealing familiar youths, though each now sported dark suits and white shirts - on the most part, having the jobs was a good thing - Demyx had his own apartment and a more than decent wage coming in every week, as well as being able to stay around Edge, but there was just one fault Danni could see…the amount of times she had called Axel Reno, and Reno Axel was not funny! Sure, they both had different coloured eyes and tattoos beneath their eyes, but in all fairness - the first thing people tended to notice on each was the red hair, and now with the same suits, and their similar regard for the uniform's dress code - it was just a pain!

"You want me to talk to Angeal - then I want to know about Valentine's girl."

Genesis smirked as the young woman spun back to face him, a look of slight shock on her face, along with disbelief. Well, fair was fair, right? She wanted him to bend Angeal's ear, it was only fair that he should get something in return.

"That's bribary!"

"Correction - that's life."

Danni grumbled under her breath as the SOLDIER spoke his so called _**correction**_ smugly, knowing that he was going to get the information he wanted now. She could probably ask Tyler to have a word with Angeal, but that could take ages for the doctor's opinion to be accepted in regards to training, at least Angeal would listen to Genesis the first time around. She rolled her eyes as she bent forward on the bar's counter, ensuring that no one else could hear her apart from Genesis.

"First - her name is Yuffie. Second - if you repeat this to anyone, I'll know exactly where it came from. And third - Yuffie is almost three months pregnant."

It was all the SOLDIER could do not to fall from his bar-stool. He had not expected that…at all. The idea of Valentine having a kid was a strange enough thought that he did not wish to even wander into…he had nothing against the man, nothing in the slightest. There was no animosity between them, but there was no solid friendship either - allies, that was all. But Yuffie on the other hand…that little kleptomaniac was going to have a kid - she was still only a youngster, a few years older than Danni was all. Genesis stared rather uncharacteristically blunt at Danni as a thought occurred to him. He glanced from the slightly confused looking young woman to the laughing young man in the corner, then back to her again.

"Danni, she's not that much older than you - just don't be naïve."

She blinked…then blinked again…and again - it didn't work - he was still sitting there looking at her. Had the SOLDIER no understanding of boundaries? No understanding of what was strictly off-limits in concern to the opposite sex? And still he was talking…

"I'm gonna stop you right there and pretend I didn't hear that Genesis - it's none of your business what Demyx and I do together, and I am _**not**_ naïve!"

Genesis merely nodded in a surprisingly rapid submission, raising his hands in a defensive gesture as her voice whispered to him in a dangerously low volume, belaying nothing of her meaning. He had over stepped a line, personally speaking he didn't think he had. But evidently she thought otherwise, and in these circumstances, it was just easier to agree than argue.

"Okay, okay - I won't mention it again. That makes two with Yuffie then."

Danni gave the older man an odd look…two? Yuffie was one, but she definitely hadn't mentioned or hinted about Tifa. The woman had only just told her fiancé, but if she hadn't let slip about Tifa - then who had Genesis meant?

"Who's number two?"

"Elena - don't tell me you didn't know?! Everyone's known with weeks…"

She shook her head - a couple of weeks - that must have been when she was ill, otherwise she would've remembered. And now when she thought about it, Elena had been spending a lot more time on paper work as opposed to her usual role in the central Turks. She had also seemed top put on a bit of weight, but she'd refrained from asking or mentioning such for fear of being wrong or insulting the older woman.

"Damn…a Turk's kid, a baby kleptomaniac in training, and more J-cells…good luck trying to find a baby-sitter for them."

Genesis inclined his head as he picked up on the J-cells mention, he doubted Danni had meant to say that, but it kinda narrowed down people, and added another person into the equation…for the kid to have J-cells, then at least one of the parents would have to have J-Cells too…

"J-Cells - Danni, are you pre-"

"For a smart guy, you jump to a lot of conclusions Genesis! Not me, I'm not the only one with J-Cells - so does Cl-"

Danni clamped hour mouth shut immediately, mentally cursing herself as realization spread across the SOLDIER's face. He had evidently gotten the answer to his first question despite her attempt to keep it from him. Genesis smiled as he stood, glad that he'd gotten his answer, while shooting Cloud a somewhat examining look. He looked back having noticed her evident displeasure with having given away Tifa's reason for being at the medical wing.

"Don't worry - you told me in confidence and I'll keep it in confidence - but if anything goes wrong before Tifa tells anyone else, or before the three of them deliver, I'm telling the President and Lazard to pull them back. It's too much of a risk."

"Tha-**_ahh_**!"

Danni jumped as she exclaimed, a painfully cold shock running down the length of her spine. She spun on her heels to find a laughing Axel standing behind her - she'd kill him, kill him stone dead - as soon as she got the ice-cubes out of her t-shirt…

"How fucking childish can one person be?!"

"If he's anything like his brother, then there are no limitations."

Cloud smirked as he watched Danni throw a handful of ice-cubes in the general direction of the young man - personally speaking he thought it was rather simple of her to do so considering Axel was capable of manipulating and controlling fire - then again, given Axel's ducking and avoiding, he hadn't seen the sense in being able to melt the make-shift projectiles. Still though, it made for good entertainment to watch!

"Ah - No - Bad Danni! Demyx - Call her off!"

Axel ducked down behind the opposite side of the counter as several small ice-cubes came particularly close to striking his head - god she was an easy person to make an enemy of!

"Nope - you dug yourself into that hole hothead! Hey Danni - catch - you left it at mine."

Danni halted in her relentless pelting of ice-cubes as Demyx tossed her phone to her - she'd only realised where she had left it a few hours ago. Which was rather slow of her to be honest, she'd left it at is apartment last night, and had spent half the day tearing the bar and the house to pieces looking for any sign of it, she'd even gone through Denzel's school bag for it - and god that kid would want to clean it out…she even thought she'd felt something furry in it at one stage.

"And just what were you doing at his yesterday? Hmm - _**oww**_!"

Axel was cut from his knowing look and exaggerated voice as an ice-cube struck him hard in the forehead - Danni simply smirked - that's what he got for not paying attention! And he should know better by now to mind his own business. He confused her a bit though, not as much as his brother, but he still did. Right now he was joking around and pulling pranks, but when Xemnas had shown up, he'd been serious and mature. She guessed it was something which ran in their family, Reno was kinda the same - he acted the joker at times, but despite it he was actually a top class Turk - he wouldn't have been made second after Tseng otherwise.

* * *

"So why are those two talking so much?"

Danni glanced up from pouring two drinks as Demyx leaned on the counter of the bar, making a gesture towards Genesis and Angeal - both of which had been in clear discussion with the best part of the last hour - she shrugged lightly, silently hoping that it was Genesis trying to convince Angeal to leave her work at ShinRa. The bar was fun and all, and she'd still do night shifts, Tifa would have to cut her own hours down soon, no way would Cloud allow her to over work herself when she was pregnant.

"Coz I want to be a part of SOLDIER again, and Genesis is one of the few people Angeal will listen to…hand me that glass?"

Demyx stood from his stool as he picked up the glass Danni had pointed to, handing it across the counter to her, taking note of just how packed the bar was tonight, and how much pressure it was putting on those behind the bar. Danni was pouring a few drinks, Tifa was taking orders, and Yuffie was doing whatever she was doing up at the other end of the bar…another second or two and the young man had made up his mind.

"Give me a tray - I'll get the empty stuff…"

Danni shook her head without looking up - nope. Nope, he'd been working all day at ShinRa, things there were still pretty hectic, and putting down a full day there was a feat in itself lately. Though the main source of entertainment had become watching people mistake Axel for Reno…and watching the two purposely confuse others. Either way, it wasn't fair, she was working now, he'd already spent the day working so it was his night off.

"Nope - you've been at work all day -"

"And you haven't been? C'mon, I'm sick of getting stick because of going out with you from the others, I work all day, you work all night, so let me give a hand…"

"Nope - _**hey**_!"

Danni was cut off from her imminent displeasured words as Demyx took his chance to grab an empty tray from over the counter while kissing her lightly…a series of whistles and jeers from the corner quickly separated the two as Danni laughed and Demyx rolled his eyes, though finding himself laughing along with her.

"See - told you I was getting stick over you…_**jinx**_!"

* * *

**_A/N: Thanks for reading! :P_**


	22. XII

_**A/N: Hey - I'm getting good at this updating thing! :P **_

* * *

"Watcha doin?"

"Paperwork…"

"Why're you doing it?"

"Because Lazard asked me to…"

"What's it about?"

"Some old mission reports from way back, and I need to try and learn some profiles…"

"Do you have to learn them?"

"Not really, but I prefer to, that way I know where I stand if those guys show up."

"So you're going to work in ShinRa like the rest?"

"Yeah, Genesis bent Angeal's ear, so I'm going back next week…"

"Do you love Demyx?"

Danni coughed as she almost choked on her sandwich - of all the questions to ask! He never ran out of questions, ever! Denzel and Marlene were off school for the week because of the mid-term, Barret had taken Marlene with him for the week, having decided it was time they got some quality time together while things were relatively quite. That had left Denzel by himself. Danni had offered to watch him for the day, knowing that Cloud had several long deliveries to make, and that Tifa had gone to the suppliers and would take a few hours at the least. He was a good kid, very inquisitive and always wanting to know something else or something new - personally speaking, she thought he would make a good SOLDIER - Yuffie had filled her in on his background, they had a lot in common, though none of those seemed to be good. Denzel had lost his parents and home, just as she had, despite that; he was always laughing and smiling.

"Um - can we change the question please?"

Denzel shrugged, truth be told, he didn't really care, all he knew was that he was bored out of his skull and she was the only person to talk to. He had not known what to think of her when Tifa and Cloud had told him and Marlene that Danni would be living with them. He hadn't hated that fact, but he certainly hadn't welcomed it with open arms. He didn't want to admit it, but he'd been kinda jealous; jealous of the way Cloud watched over her shoulder without her even noticing - but he knew better now. She was a part of the family, just as he was.

"Okay…does Demyx love you?"

A slight grin and cheeky blue eyes showed her that he knew exactly what he had just done. She rolled her eyes - she should have seen that one coming! There was no malice in his questioning, but he knew he was walking a fine line, and enjoyed it!

"Truthful answer to both questions - I don't know hun…"

"How about I ask him?"

"How about you start your homework before Tifa and Cloud get back, hmm?"

Danni merely stuck her tongue out as Denzel's face visibly dropped at the mention of homework. It had to be done though, and with Cloud on deliveries and Tifa at the suppliers, it would be too late for either of them to help the youngster if he needed it with his homework.

* * *

"No, look again hun; you have two negative signs…"

Danni smiled as she took her hand away from his copybook, watching as Denzel stared at the page in confusion, not noticing his evident mistake for a moment or two before realization dawned and he quickly corrected his error, drawing a line down through the middle of the negative sign to change it to a positive sign. He really was a pretty bright kid for his age, he was quick to figure things out on his own and learn from mistakes of his own and others.

"Umm…Danni…"

Denzel poked the older girl as he looked behind her, towards the door of Seventh Heaven. A black mist had quickly formed into a full-length portal, his first thoughts were of Axel or Demyx…but that was not who had just stepped out of the portal. A woman, a little shorter than Danni, with bright and short blonde hair.

"So this is the place…hmm, I was expecting something a bit better."

Danni spun around as she heard a female's voice and felt Denzel's light poke. She found herself mere feet away from a black-coated woman. On first impressions, she resembled Elena a great deal. The same bright blonde hair and blue eyes. However, that was as far as the similarities stretched. She knew this woman's name from the profiles Zexion had constructed - Larxene. She was the one Demyx had referred to as the absolute psychopath. Danni backed up a foot or two, repositioning herself in front of Denzel. Whatever this woman wanted, it wasn't going to be a friendly chat.

"Larxene."

The blonde-haired woman inclined her head, smiling as she locked onto the young woman. Xemnas had given the remaining members orders to eliminate the five traitors when the opportunity arose. But, though it threw her somewhat, he had given specific orders for Demyx to be brought back to the stronghold. She really did not see why, the kid was a moron. A pretty all-round useless fighter. Not particularly gifted in any form of magic. Fast at running, she had to give him that much. It was still stupid in her opinion, being told to bring that idiot back to the Superior and told to track down some girl. Though by the looks of it, the girl was standing in front of her.

"Good, saves an introduction. Dannielle? The moron's girlfriend?"

Danni frowned at the older woman, immediately hating her already. Partially due to the use of her full name, but mostly due to her labelling of Demyx…he was not an idiot or a moron or a retard, or any other name, he was a hell of a lot smarter than he let on. Still though, she was in no situation to argue with a labelling term.

"Depends…are you the psychopath I've heard so much about?"

Larxene's smile seemed to drop as she took a step forward, idly swinging a small knife between two of her fingers.

"I should warn you that I'm in an _**extremely**_ foul mood right now. You're in no situation to smart mouth; you wouldn't want the child to get hurt now, would you?"

Danni moved several inches to her right, making sure that Denzel was fully behind her. Demyx had been right; she was an absolute psychopath. She may have had the same hued eyes as Elena, but Larxene's were steely. Ice cold and gleaned with a thirst for hurt. She had read her profile…agile, strong, thunder magic…it was not the best concoction of abilities for her to try to defend against. Especially not when she could hardly even keep on par with other members of SOLDIER instead of Organization XIII. Danni kept her eyes trained on the woman as she decided upon her best option - stalling.

"What do you want me for?"

"Predictable response - stalling isn't going to work little girl. Truthful answer though - The Superior wants you so he can hurt the moron I guess. See, all along he was this spineless idiot, but he kinda threw us all for a loop when he fought back the last time, and Xemnas doesn't appreciate it."

Again, she had stepped forward; Danni glanced around quickly trying to assess any exit points. It wasn't herself she was worried about, she could fight, she would probably get hurt, but she could defend herself at least. Denzel was eleven, and though he was a bright kid, he was still only that - a kid. Larxene didn't strike her as the merciful type, the last thing she wanted to do was let Denzel get hurt.

"Wouldn't say appreciates much - _**bitch**_!"

Danni spun as she caught Denzel and bent down, making sure she had him covered at least. A small knife buried itself deep into the wooden bar counter as Larxene's knife missed its target by mere centimetres. The nineteen year old took a shaky breath as she stood back up, taking several steps to her right whilst keeping a tight hold on Denzel.

Larxene shook her head as she smiled again, a smile laced with sickening malice, as she noticed the girl's steps and the door that seemed to be getting closer to the pair.

"I really wouldn't do that if I was you, you may be quick, but I can promise you I'm quicker."

"_**Demyx!**_"

Danni took her chance as Larxene spun around, falling for her diversion. She quickly crossed the last few feet that separated her and Denzel from the door. She pushed Denzel a head of her, ignoring the youngster's hesitance as she opened the door to the house area of Seventh Heaven.

"_Please don't argue with me - go to ShinRa!_"

Denzel was cut off from voicing any displeasure at her whisper by the door being closed shut in front of him; the sound of sliding metal announced it being locked also. Danni moved quick as she pulled the key from the lock, ensuring the only way to open it now would be to force it open with a kick or a blow - by which time Denzel should be out of harms way.

"Ahh!"

"What do you know - the moron picked an idiot for a girlfriend too!"

Danni grinded her teeth hard as she was rammed up against the door frame sharply. Larxene had been right; she was faster. The young woman bit down on the inside of her cheek as she braced one of her legs against the locked door and pushed back roughly. Forcing the older female behind her to stumble back several feet, gaining a small but welcome area to work with.

Larxene laughed as she steadied her stance, the youth had kicked back with a lot more force than she had given her credit for. That much she had to credit her with. She guessed it was something to do with that SOLDIER force, the Superior's ally had mentioned it and several of its members, including this girl. It didn't matter all that much though, she was still outmatched.

Danni watched the female carefully, watching for any slight movements, which may have given an attack away. She noticed as shift of weight to the blonde-haired woman's right leg and braced herself, raising her right arm as she blocked a well-aimed kick. A blur of black caught the corner of her eye however.

"_**Ahh**_!"

The SOLDIER rolled over, clutching the left side of her ribcage as agony flared into life. Something else had hit her from the other side whilst she had blocked Larxene's kick. She dragged herself back to her feet, knowing that the longer she stayed on the ground, the greater her odds declined. One of the most basic rules of fighting - get your back against a wall and now matter what happens, do not let yourself hit the ground.

Larxene twisted another of her Shock Charm knives between her thumb and forefinger, watching as the ebony haired young woman reclaimed her footing. It looked as if she had not gleaned very much information from any of those five traitors yet. If she had, then she would know of her abilities, but the clone had just fully blind sighted her.

"Dannielle - I was led to believe you were a good fighter and a smart girl - you should have done your homework!"

Danni felt her head meet the edge of the counter as searing pain sliced down her left jaw line. Again, she dragged herself back to her feet, albeit with stars dancing around the edge of her vision. She could see that sadistic bitch standing in front of her, but felt the nicks and blows striking her from all sides…

* * *

"So - my turn to get a dig in - you and Sandra?"

Demyx bit back laughter as Axel's jaw almost hit the floor. The hothead hadn't expected him to have known! Sandra was one of the four receptionists in the front reception of the ShinRa building. Reno had always hit on her, but she was a smart girl and knew the older Turk was somewhat of a player. Then Axel had popped up and things had evolved and Axel had started disappearing from Seventh Heaven some nights - it didn't take a genius to figure out what had been going on!

"How the hell?!"

"Oh c'mon - you made it pretty obvious."

Axel simply shook his head as he walked ahead. Fine, they had figured out that much - he would make sure to keep the rest from them - he wanted his own personal life kept that way. A thought occurred to him as several jeers from the other four echoed behind him, so this was how Demyx felt. However, it was funny doing it to Demyx and Danni! Either way - they could keep their noses out of his business.

"_**Oww**_!"

Axel looked down as something collided with his side and a voice rang out. His emerald irises locked onto a rather flushed looking Denzel.

"Hey - what's up? Are you not supposed to be back at the bar with Danni?"

Denzel rubbed his head as he stood, he really shouldn't run around corners like that…he stood still for a second or two as he tried to gather his thoughts, then quickly rattled off what had happened.

"A blonde woman in a black coat showed up - she had small knives - Danni locked herself and the woman in the bar and told me to come here."

* * *

Demyx glanced around quickly as he stepped from the black portal. A painful throbbing filled his chest as his gaze locked onto Danni's frame, lying on the floor along by one of the stools. Broken glass covered the floor, along with the tabletops. Several familiar Shock Charm knives were embedded into the counter's edge and the wall behind the bar…yellow and turquoise - Larxene's.

"Danni - _**Ahh**_! Bitch Larxene!"

Demyx hissed as he spun away holding his left shoulder tightly, a small knife burying itself deep in his shoulder.

"Man, you really are a moron - you should have at least seen that one coming knowing I was here."

He flinched as he gripped the end of the small knife and pulled it from his shoulder, ignoring the pain as his mind had only one target in sight. He did not pay attention to the others behind him, nor the female's evident taunts. All the noise around him seemed to fade out as he twisted the blade around in his hand threw it forcefully, aiming intentionally low. He did not hear her cry of exclamation as the knife penetrated her right knee, causing her to crash painfully to the floor. He did not hear the glass shards crunching beneath his feet as he walked slowly towards the Organization member. What he did notice however was the astonishment that filled her cold eyes as he pulled her to her feet by her throat and held her against the wall. Not caring that his leg was unintentionally hitting off the Shock Charm embedded in her knee; causing intense pain for the female. He wanted to get his message across as clearly as possible.

"Look at me when I say this Larxene. Attempt to hurt her again and I _**will**_ kill you. Do not doubt me on it. The same goes for everyone left in the Organization. Come after her and I will track every last one of you down and watch you fade back into Darkness myself. Now kindly get the fuck out of here."

Demyx stepped back a pace, watching the sadistic female open a portal and back into it, limping a great deal whilst giving the young man a poisonous glare.

* * *

**_A/N: I have decided I really don't like how KHII played out. I think the Organization should have won -__- Anyhu - feedback would be appreciated huns, but thanks for taking the time to read either way!_**


	23. Perfect Timing

_**A/N: This would have been up days ago - only for my stupid internet. Anyone know what "P2P" is? My mam's computer has it, it's been sending massive amounts of spam through to my internet suppliers, they had to cut off the connection to stop the spam. It's still on my Mam's computer, we don't know how to remove it - if anyone knows how, can you please email me or send me a pm - please?!**_

* * *

"Danni…"

She flinched as someone's hands encased her frame gently, helping her to stand. Everything stung. Everything ached. Everything hurt. She didn't understand why Zexion was standing in front of her, his eyes boring into her as someone's arm rested upon her shoulder. Nor did she understand why that arm belonged to the unmistakeably pink-haired young man; Marluxia.

"Wh-ahh…."

"Watch it. You're going to end up on the floor again…"

Danni glanced up sideways as Marluxia caught her frame. Having lost her balance due to being caught off guard by a searing pain down the left of her rib cage.

Demyx turned as he heard her voice - a thing cut ran the length of her left jaw line, several small cuts and bruises dotted her arms and neck, a large bruise was also quickly forming on the side of her temple - scrap that threat he had just given Larxene…he was going to kill her now! The blond cursed as he rose a hand and attempted to summon a portal. A black mist immediately sprouted from the ground, only to quickly evaporate into thin air before the portal was fully summoned.

"Demyx don't. You go to the Stronghold and you will be playing straight into their game."

His eyes flashed with a rage that was unaccustomed to his character as he spun to face Zexion. The young man also had his arm extended, evidently having prevented the younger Nobody from opening the portal due to guessing it's destination. He had no right to stop him from doing anything! If he felt like going to the Stronghold - then he had every right to! Danni had gotten hurt because of him, it was a challenge, he had to show face!

"Back the hell off Zexion - this has fuck all to do with you!"

Zexion blinked venomous words were spat his way. He hadn't expected that. Danni cringed as she shifted her weight. Silently running through what Larxene had said - if he went to wherever it was the Stronghold was, she'd never see him again - he couldn't go.

"Demyx please…if you follow her, then you're dead."

He felt his anger drain somewhat as she spoke quietly. Purposely keeping eye contact with him until she saw the anger dim and his thoughts clear…they were all right. He was wrong. He still wanted to go and prove something, it wasn't fair, even by Xemnas' standards. They'd hurt his girlfriend, and now they were going to get away with it too! He didn't care, as stupid as it sounded, even to himself, he'd pay them back someway.

* * *

"Tell me again what she looked like yo?"

"She was shorter than Danni, wore the same black coat Axel had. She fought with small knives - wait - go back one…that's her!"

Reno halted hitting the enter button on the keyboard and quickly hit the back space key. A picture of a woman sporting bright blonde hair and blue eyes filled the screen.

Axel had appeared with the youngster only a mere ten or fifteen minutes ago. Hastily and partially explaining that something had happened and to watch Denzel for a bit. It hadn't taken much to get the kid to talk, actually he'd been rather willing to talk and explain in full what had happened at the bar. The kid gave a remarkably descriptive explanation for a preteen.

Reno remained silent as the youngster continued to stare at the screen. He actually got on pretty well with Denzel, despite the massive age gap. But the two were partners in crime a lot of the time.

Truthfully speaking, he hadn't expected the kid to be so easy to get on with. Denzel knew at this stage that the Turk had been responsible for the collapse of Sector 7. For the death of his parents and family, the destruction of his home and former life. But Denzel had never once used that against the Turk, something he found extremely relieving and somewhat freeing.

* * *

"What did you say to Xemnas that night?"

Demyx shrugged, turning away from Zexion - who seemed to be in an over questioning mood today for a change - he didn't like getting into a starting war with him. Whatever chance he had of holding one with Danni - Zexion was a completely different story. The young man possessed a pair of the most piercing eyes he had come across. A gazed which was capable of seeing right through things to their true core, capable of peering into your thoughts.

Truth be told he didn't remember all that much about the night Xemnas has showed up - talking with Danni,, laughing, trying to get his jacket back - then his voice and an iron grip crushing his wind pipe. What did it matter anyhow?

"Can't remember - why does it even matter?"

"Because they targeted her to get to you. I know how the Organization works better than you think; for Xemnas to send Larxene here, after Danni even, it was a revenge mission. What did you say or do to warrant that?"

Again he shrugged. Walking around in an aimless circle as he fought to remember what had exactly happened that night. The medical wing was becoming too much of a familiar sight at this stage. Danni was in with Tyler, he did wonder at one stage a week or two ago as to why Danni was constantly being referred to Tyler instead of a different medical personnel - he'd just been told that's the way it had always been, so it was just easier to keep it that way too.

"I don't think I said anything - he told me to move from in front of Danni and I wouldn't - that's all."

Zexion sighed as he stood from leaning against the wall. He had been a part of Organization XIII since it's inception. He had even been one of the founding members. He had fought for the Organization's side, he had stuck loyally by Xemnas the first time around, and he had lost. Now he was fighting for himself and what he had cared about before Organization XIII had come along - understanding things.

He was lucky in a sense. Because of his position in the ranks; Xemnas would not order his elimination to many members. The most likely candidates would be Saix, Xaldin or maybe even himself, Xemnas.

The others were a different story however. Axel had already proved his resilience and rebellious nature already, Saix would more than likely be charged with his elimination. He could see Larxene returning to take up a grudge with Marluxia. Roxas was anyone's game. He had assumed and expected Xigbar or Xaldin to take care of Demyx, but he'd been wrong on that one apparently. All the time he'd been at the Stronghold, Demyx had allowed himself to remain firmly under the radar - but Zexion had seen what the blond had done to Larxene, and had seen his temper first hand. The misleading blond was proving himself to be a force to reckon with lately.

"How did she hit me without moving?"

Demyx spun from is aimless walking. Immediately locking gazes with unusually bright amethyst. Danni had been listening apparently, though he hadn't noticed her exit Tyler's office, she hadn't even wanted to come to the medical wing but he'd made her.

"She's one of the most agile in the Organization - she can use clones when she fights, they're what hit you."

Danni nodded slowly. It wasn't that she was badly hurt. Most of her injuries were superficial cuts and nicks, a few bruises - the worst being the one still developing on the side of her temple from where she's struck the edge of the bar counter. But she honestly wasn't that bad. Sore, yes. Stinging, yes. Aching, yes. But she was pissed off above all else. The bar looked as if an atomic bomb had been set off in there - how was she supposed to explain that to Tifa? She groaned as she rubbed her forehead, stressing out over things already.

"What if Tifa had been there?! She's **_pregnant_** - what if Larxene had fought her? Oh god…"

Demyx sighed as he wrapped one of his arms comfortingly around her shoulders, allowing her to rest her head against the side of his chest, much more stressing out and she was gonna end up getting upset. Though he could understand why she was being so uptight, Denzel could have been very easily hurt, if not killed. If Larxene had meant real harm, then neither of the two would have been so lucky as to walk from the bar with cuts and bruises. Zexion watched the two as he walked alongside them, speaking quietly as he felt the need to point out the evident.

"I don't mean to be blunt, but; if Tifa had been there, Larxene would not have been. You were the target."

"Danni! Are you okay?"

She smiled as Denzel grabbed the side of Reno's desk, stopping himself from spinning around on the Turk's chair with and unsteady jolt, almost causing him to fall from the chair. Denzel gave a sheepish grin as he pushed himself back up straight before he received a face-full of the floor. His bright blue eyes showed far more concern than they should have for someone his age.

"I'm fine hun, you coming back with me or d'you want to hang around here?"

"Go with you, I have to finish my maths anyhow."

She laughed as he pulled a disgusted face. Yeah…homework - _**if**_ the sadistic bitch hadn't shredded it up in the crossfire.

"Kay -"

"Are you for real?!"

Demyx stared incredulously at his girlfriend. The last place she should be going on her own was back to where she had just got her butt kicked. She should stay at ShinRa, stay anywhere but there - not that that would stop Larxene or any of the others - but she shouldn't be going anywhere on her own

"Yeah - I have to. The place is a mess…"

And with that she turned and walked away, Denzel by her side. She wasn't in the mood for arguing with anyone at that moment in time. Demyx stared at her back for a second or two, before groaning and cursing loudly, knowing his conscience was getting the better of him. The one thing he did regret about being in a relationship was his choices were no longer his alone. Decisions he made affected her and decisions she made affected him.

"Ah, I'm coming…"

Marluxia simply shook his head as the blond followed Danni and Denzel without so much of a word of explanation. He smirked as he turned and passed a well deserved smart comment to Roxas.

"Somebody's whipped anyhow…"

* * *

"Hey Demyx, can I ask you a question?"

Demyx nodded as he rooted beneath the bar for a roll of black bags. The one in the bin was pretty much full as it stood, and by the looks of Seventh Heaven there was a need for far more than just one. He was vaguely aware of Denzel checking the other side of the bar, looking for the same as him. One would have thought that living in the bar the kid would have known where Tifa kept them, but evidently not.

"Do you love Danni?"

"Wha-_**Oww**_!"

Demyx rubbed his head as he found himself on his butt. He felt as if someone had just gotten hit with something from behind, a blinding pain filled his head, making his vision sway. What kind of question was that for an eleven year old to ask anyhow? And what kind of place was that for a stupid beer tap?! Stupid thing…he wasn't even supposed to be here, he was supposed to be at work. If he'd been using his brain, then he would of at least told or asked Rufus first, but him being himself had led to him not doing so.

"Bang your head?"

Danni smirked as she walked past, looking over the counter as she picked up the sweeping brush. Denzel was on his butt too, though his reason for doing so was uncontrollable laughter as opposed to a rather painful looking bump. His pained look was enough of an answer for her. As was his spiteful glance back at Denzel.

"I sent Angeal a message to let Rufus know where you are by the way…"

"Yeah…I was kinda thinking bout that alright…hey, I found the black bags!"

Demyx smirked as his vision cleared and he found himself staring right at the roll or bin bags. He groaned slightly as he stood, a throbbing pain still very much present and emanating from the top of his head. He could still hear Denzel laughing. He would find it funny eventually too…once the pain went away and the bump went down that was.

"Danni - can I ask something?"

Danni nodded as she bent over, trying to reach the last of the broken glass beneath the table. How so much glass had been broken was beyond her - the windows were all intact - which was a massive relief. The mirror behind the bar was intact too. A lot of bottles had been broken by what she could only guess had been Larxene's knives, so had a lot of the glasses.

"Sure you can Denzel."

Denzel paused for a few moments as he watched Danni bending to reach beneath a table and Demyx picking up some of the larger shards of glass and partially broken glasses, throwing them all into one of the large bags. He was curious about them. Danni had lived with him for the last four months, and he knew most things about her, even little habits she didn't notice. But he still wanted to know some stuff - and every other time he'd wanted to ask, he'd managed to word the first few words of his sentence before either Cloud or Tifa had cut him off with a quick glance.

"What was your hometown like?"

He just had a knack for asking unusual questions Danni decided. She paused as she looked to the youngster, who sat on the counter, surveying her and Demyx as they cleaned up. Though it usually bothered her when people asked questions that didn't concern them, it didn't when Denzel asked the questions. He was just genuinely curious the whole time, there were no malice in his questions, no hidden agendas, just a curiosity that she knew no answers would ever fill.

"Gongaga was…fun I guess. I didn't really grow up there until I was around your age. But it _**was **_fun. There was this massive forest around the village, kinda in a circle. Really dense. I lived just at the entrance, you had to pass my house before you really got into the village. There was an inn in the far left corner of the village…the major's house was in the far right…it was a cool place to live. Mind you I didn't think that when I was there, but I know it was now. Funny how that works to be honest…"

Danni trailed off as she shook her head, smiling as she decided to get off the subject. Anytime she thought of Gongaga, she unintentionally summoned up the image of the decimated remains of her home and her lost family. Four months, that's how long had passed since the morning the Shadow Creepers had arrived in Gongaga. It didn't seem all that long ago, but yet so much had changed since then…hopefully for the better.

"And what about your's Demyx?"

This time it was Demyx's turn to be caught off guard by the youngster. Even Danni had to laugh at the face Demyx pulled…exasperated at the very least! But fair was fair, she'd answered now he had to too. He wasn't getting out of this, not with Denzel still looking at him and Danni looking rather satisfied.

"Umm…flowers, a garden…that's about it really."

"Ah no - stupid thing!"

Demyx turned as he heard her exclaim suddenly, closely followed by the sound of something falling into water. Danni felt like kicking herself as she fished around in the sink in search of her phone. The water was warm but dirty, making it difficult to see anything within the sink. She knew it was well and truly broken by now. Though ShinRa phones were built to last, the one thing most phones were invariably vulnerable to was water. And she doubted her phone was any exception to that universal rule. Sure, she could get a new phone pretty easily, but her phone was her baby - she'd gotten it from the company just before Angeal had brought her back to Gongaga. As stupid as it sounded, it had sentimental value. Not to mention a shit load of numbers and contacts that would take ages to try and accumulate and track down again, it would take her weeks of asking around to get all the numbers back.

"**_Uhh!_** I couldn't have luck, could I?!"

Danni rolled her eyes, fighting the urge to break something else as she hit the power button on her retrieved and dripping wet phone. The screen flashed white for a second or two, then went black. She hit it again and the same thing happened.

"Show me…"

Demyx held out his hand to take the phone as Danni's approach seemed fruitless, much longer and she'd lob it at a wall or into the bin, then it definitely wouldn't get fixed. He gestured again, purposely outstretching his hand more until she handed over the phone hesitantly. He placed it down on the counter and removed the back, then removed the battery and sim-card. He then concentrated on the phone and the components of which he'd put on the counter before him, not taking much notice of Denzel's intense interest as a small sphere of liquid rose from the back of the phone, he kept his eye on the liquid as it moved towards the sink and dropped into it with a small plop. The nobody smirked slightly as he replaced the phone's sim-card, battery and back. Then hit the power button, handing it back to Danni as the screen requested her pin number.

Her face lit up instantly a genuine smile spreading across her face as her eyes sparkled and she threw her arms around his neck, kissing him on the cheek as she grinned all the wider at his shocked expression.

"Thank-you, thank-you, thank-you, _**thank-you!**_ I'd pay you back if I could - yay - my phone lives!!"

"I'm running upstairs for a minute, I want to call Tifa, see how long more she's going to be."

Danni nodded as Denzel exited the bar, silently acknowledging his words despite her eyes still being on Demyx as he spun her around. He smiled too, using his free hands to push her unusually loose tresses back behind her ear, his other arm was firmly around her waist as she stood - she could pay him back. He'd wanted to ask her with a while now, but every time the opportunity had arisen to ask - Axel, Roxas, or one of the others - even Cid - had interrupted, ruining the moment. But Denzel was upstairs now, and the others were at ShinRa or working, no one could interrupt this time.

"Move in with me?"

* * *

**_A/N: Yes - Cliff-hanger :P_**


	24. An Answer

_**A/N: Here's the next chapter :P**_

* * *

"_Say no, say no, say no, say no - oww!"_

Aerith gave him a dangerous glare as she smacked the back of his spiky black-haired head. A stony look that betrayed her sweet disposition and gave light to her more forceful manners. He never grew up. One would think being stuck in a limbo state for seven years would have forced the SOLDIER to grow up and mature in his approach to situations, but evidently not. While she had been silently watching Danni and Demyx's carry-on, and silently hoping Danni would answer yes to the tall youth's question. He had been not so silently praying she would say no. Okay, he was her big brother and she could understand why he didn't exactly want her moving in with Demyx, he also had to realise she was a young woman and knew how to look after herself in a relationship. It was times like these that Aerith was glad Danni could not hear her or Zack.

"Are you joking?"

"_Yeah, he is - say no!"_

Demyx shook his head, still smiling. He was dead serious, as serious as he had ever been. He cared about her more than he would ever be capable of putting into words. All the years of being The Melodious Nocturne had made him forget what it felt like to be happy, what joy felt like, what genuine laughter sounded like. But since he'd met her, it had all come back. He was happy when he was with her, warmth that seemed to spread across his chest, making him smile without even noticing it. When he laughed around her, it was an honest laugh, not a mocking one or a sarcastic one. She meant the world to him…more, she meant more than all the worlds to him.

"I'm serious…I love you Danni Fair and I'm asking you to move in with me - what d'you say?"

"_She says no! Now get your hand off her hip kid!"_

Danni smiled as she nodded, she smiled all the wider as he spun her around, she placed her arms on his shoulders and her forehead against his, giggling despite herself as spoke.

"I say yes…I love you too Demyx."

"_**Noooo**_….."

"_Honestly - grow up Zack."

* * *

_"You working tonight?"

Danni shook her head as he closed his arms around her and kissed her cheek from behind. Nope, she had the night off tonight. She planned to have a severe hangover come morning also. Tifa and Yuffie were working behind the bar tonight, she had purposely booked it off. She was starting back at ShinRa on Monday. It was Saturday and it was Demyx birthday, for those reasons she planned to get legless for once. She wasn't one to usually get drunk, but today was an exception.

A few days had passed since she had become acquainted with Demyx's past colleague. Several nicks in the bar's counter remained as evidence of such. She'd explained what had happened to both Cloud and Tifa once the two of them had arrived back. Demyx had given a hand explaining too. What had surprised her however had been how both had only been concerned with whether she'd been hurt or Denzel. An hour of Tifa's constant motherly side trying to glean a closer look at the bruise on the side of her temple and evident small cuts had dragged past while Cloud had stood back and smirked away to himself. Danni smiled to herself as she thought of how the barmaid had changed over the last week or so, she was getting increasingly motherly and though she it didn't bother her all that much, it did make her realise something. Tifa was pregnant, it looked as if hormones were already taking over and right then she was taking up the only spare room at Seventh Heaven. Even though neither Cloud nor Tifa would ever admit it, she was starting to intrude. Sure, she had lived there for four months by now, but things were moving on. She just had to tell them she was moving out yet…something told her Cloud would be the one to be hesitant with that idea however.

"Nope…Happy Birthday, you're not a teenager anymore, no excuses now hun!"

"Y'all are pretty lovey-dovey lately!"

Danni turned around in Demyx's embrace and stuck her tongue out, already knowing the owner of that voice. Cid. The man had a habit of popping up with a smart comment in the middle of things. She paused as her eyes came to rest on the female standing alongside the gruff pilot. She'd seen the woman before, but in a white coat, with her hair held up in a high ponytail, she'd been younger back then too. Working for Cid on the ShinRa space program until that had been discarded.

"You used to work on the Space Program, right?"

The woman nodded as she smiled, she recognised the girl too. Though her knowledge was supposed to have been strictly limited to the Space Program when she worked for ShinRa, any past workers would tell you the same, for such a high up and monopolising company, they had left restricted files pretty easy to enter depending on what route you took. Trying to access a SOLDIER profile straight from the hanger's terminal had been a no go, but if you had managed to get into the standard grunts' files from there, it made it easier to enter the 3rd Classes' profiles and work your way up, though even then four profiles had remained locked, with only names and pictures showing up. All other information regarding them had been under authorization code.

"Mmm-hmm, you worked for SOLDIER, correct?"

Danni nodded, slightly taken aback by her words but she smiled nonetheless. Now if only she could remember the woman's name…the nineteen-year-old quickly ran through names in her head, trying her best to associate one with the woman's face, but to no avail.

"I didn't catch your name…"

The older female smiled again, having seen the slight confusion in the young woman's eyes as she had probably tried to put a name to her face. The girl seemed relatively friendly to her.

"Shera Highwind."

Danni allowed her smile to drop somewhat. _Highwind_ - but that would mean the woman was related to Cid - by the way he was standing with her, she knew Shera certainly was not his sister. She felt her eyes widen as she caught sight of the gold band on the woman's ring finger, the same type of ring on the pilot's finger also. Why hadn't she noticed that before? She was his wife…how the hell had he managed to be civil for long enough to even propose to someone.

"You two are married?! Now I definitely need a drink…"

"_Oh stop sulking…"_

Zack shook his head defiantly, his arms crossed childishly across his chest as he continued to stare from where he leaned against the wall. All day he'd refused to take his eyes off the blond which now stood with his arms around his little sister once more. He'd never wished so hard in all the seven years he'd been forced to watch that he could be heard by them. He'd wanted to tell his parents that he was okay despite everything and that how he had wished his mother hadn't prayed for his safety every night before going to bed. He'd wanted his Dad to hear him, just so he could tell him how much he'd accomplished, to tell him he'd stuck to his dreams and he'd looked out for his friends. He had wanted Aerith to hear him so many times…every time she'd knelt in her church tending to her flowers…but he'd been united with her again far too soon. He'd wanted Angeal to hear him, just so he could thank him. He'd wanted Cloud to hear him, just so the bimbo would stop being so guilty. He'd wanted Sephiroth to hear him, just so he could tell him how far he'd fallen. He'd wanted Danni to hear him, just so she knew he was still looking out for her in his own little way. But right now he wanted Demyx to hear him so bad, just so he could tell him how much he wanted to hurt him.

"_You're being childish, you know that right?"_

Zack nodded silently in response to Aerith's question. Yup, childish, he wasn't one to argue with the blatant and obvious truth. Aerith shook her head as she looked away from the brooding male. She smiled as she looked back to Danni and Demyx. They looked cute together in her eyes, though she dared not say that to Zack, she would be listening to his ranting for the night. She honestly didn't see what the big deal was about. Danni was nineteen, another few months and she would be twenty. She was a young woman and had a right to be happy with someone. And if she were to get technical about it, she herself had only been around fifteen when she'd met Zack…

"_You were sixteen, I was fifteen. She's nineteen, he's now twenty. Older than we were, and probably a lot less naïve too."_

"_Don't care."_

"Did you tell them yet?"

Danni shook her head as Demyx nodded his head in Cloud and Tifa's direction. No, she hadn't yet. The moment to do so hadn't really presented itself. Anytime she'd tried to bring up the matter with Tifa, Yuffie had popped in to say hi, or had just simply popped up. Anytime she'd tried to bring up the matter with Cloud, a delivery had materialized. She'd barely seen Angeal for more than two seconds, so telling him certainly had not happened either. Danni bit her lower lip as she looked to Cid, who was in deep conversation with his wife - she still felt weird saying that to herself - Yuffie was laughing at something Vincent had said at the other end of the bar, though personally speaking she didn't see what Vincent could have said to make the Wutain laugh so much, he wasn't exactly the best for cracking jokes. Both Cloud and Tifa were talking quietly over the counter, probably about getting stuff for the baby. If she moved quick, she could probably get there, say whatever and all before someone popped up in the way again.

"Go hang out with the guys for a minute."

"Huh - how come?"

"Just for a minute…"

"Bu-"

"Demyx - just _**go**_ already!"

Danni rolled her eyes as she forcefully pushed Demyx over towards where the rest were sitting. She wanted to tell them on her own. Was it that hard to understand? She bit back a laugh as he almost tripped over a stool on his way, natural-born cluts as always.

"_Ha…now just keep walking…straight out the door."_

"_Zack - honestly!"_

"Look, I really don't mean to intrude, but I need to say something, it won't take long - promise!"

Cloud glanced sideways, slightly shocked by Danni's sudden appearance. He and Tifa had been discussing some things about work. He wanted to cut down his deliveries down and pick up his work at the bar. It made sense in his head - she was pregnant, so was Yuffie, the two of them were working long hours as the matter stood, along with Danni. But Danni's hours were being dropped down to the weekends come Monday due to her starting back at ShinRa. That meant more work for both Tifa and Yuffie. The two of them could probably put up with the extra load for the time being, but their bumps weren't getting smaller.

"What's up?"

Danni took a deep breath as she tried to mentally order her words into sentences that would perfectly convey her reasons for her decision. But all seemed to evade her. Any reasoning she had already went through and stored for later use within her mind had all but abandoned her. They'd been there all along, little voices giving her the words and reasons she needed, but now those little voices had all but abandoned ship.

"Uhh…"

"_Look, she's hesitating - that means she not sure - now she can say no!"_

"_Zack - I swear to Minerva if you don't stop it…"_

Danni rolled her eyes as she put her head down on the counter of the bar for a second before looking back up and rambling off the only set of words that remained in her head.

"Demyx asked me to move in with him, I said yes. Don't look at me like that and please don't argue…look at it this way, I'm taking up the only spare room, you're going to need that when the baby is born."

Tifa blinked for a second or two as she tried to comprehend Danni's string of words. Okay, the young woman made a viable reason. But there was no need to move out or anything…of course not. The baby could sleep in it's crib in her and Cloud's room if need be.

"Danni…the baby can stay in our room, you don't have to -"

Danni shook her head as she sat up on the high bar stool, having come across a wet patch left by a spilled drink with the side of her head and her elbow. She knew that, but that's the thing - she _**wanted**_ to move in with him. Too many things had gone wrong in her life, between ShinRa, Gongaga, her parents, her brother, mako-poisoning. At least now there was something good and it was going right for once. She was going to do whatever she could to try and protect the happiness for once.

"I know…but things are going really well, which I'm kinda shocked by to be honest, but I want this and so does he."

Tifa nodded slowly as she read the younger female's face, she was determined and serious. If it's what she wanted, then okay, she had no right to stand in her way and certainly wouldn't attempt to do so. And neither would Cloud, if he did then he was going to get an earful from her.

"Okay…you know this door is always open hun."

Danni smiled as she stood up on the rung of her stool, bending over the bar as she hugged Tifa. The woman had done so much for her, when everyone else had stared at her with untrusting eyes, watching as she'd broken down while trying to explain what had happened in Gongaga, Tifa had comforted her. Had given her a home, a job, a family.

Cloud nodded as her amethyst eyes came to rest on him, evidently wanting to hear his opinion or say on the matter also. On the grounds of a friend, then he couldn't hold her back. He could wish her the best and let her know that if anything ever went wrong, then he was only a call away. But as a friend to her brother - then he wanted to stay no and kick the lanky blond out of the bar - but if he did that, Tifa would kick him out straight after Demyx.

"You ever need help, you know where to come Danni - _**Owww!**_"

Cloud snapped his head around as his hand shot to the back of his neck. A sharp pain smarting away as he glanced around to see who had pinched him.

"_For God's sake Zack!"

* * *

**A/N: Thanks for reading huns!**  
_


	25. Work

_**A/N: Heya huns - here's the next chapter!**_

* * *

_"I can see my future when I'm looking in your eyes, and I can sense security just by you being in my life…"_

Danni groaned as she rolled over in her bed and made a spiteful swipe at her phone. It couldn't be time to get up already! The young woman only groaned louder as she knocked her phone from the bedside locker instead of knocking off it's alarm. She had never been a morning person and she certainly didn't see herself becoming one either. Her motto - if it was still dark outside, then it was still night-time, regardless of the time - but it seemed to her she was one of the only people who believed in that motto. It honestly couldn't be time to get up though! She hadn't gone to bed until pretty late but things had been hectic yesterday. Aside from having a major hangover, which she'd gained from Friday night's drinking, she'd been trying to gather all her stuff. Both Tifa and Cloud, more so Tifa had been taken aback, but she figured if she was going to move out, then the sooner the better. She hadn't meant it in a bad way or anything, just that why postpone something that was inevitable? That and her reasoning had been it would be easier for her to move all her stuff in one go…yeah right, she knew for an absolute fact that Denzel had hidden some of her books and sneakers. She'd be rooting around the bar in a few months and find them or something.

"You kinda have to hit the off button if you want it to shut up…"

She knew that! She just didn't feel like getting out from under the duvet to go find wherever her phone had landed. And plus she liked that song a lot, which was mainly why she'd picked it as her ring-tone and alarm tone.

"I know that…you have work too, new recruits are coming in today, right?"

This time it was Demyx's turn to groan - he'd forgotten about that! There were new recruits arriving from the Academy today and literally all the senior Turks were being called in to assess them and start organizing field missions. Most of them had probably already been at the Academy longer than he or any of the others had worked for ShinRa. He doubted they'd be very happy with being assessed by individuals who had appeared out of nowhere. He didn't really care though, he wasn't one to put himself or his abilities above others, but the way he was looking at it - how many of them could summon clones formed of water? He didn't want to get up though…it was still dark outside, her usually didn't have to be in until eight on a normal day. Demyx shook his head as he pulled a pillow over his exposed ear.

"I'm blaming SOLDIER for me having to be in early…"

Danni snapped her head around as she leaned up on her elbows, giving the still half asleep blond an evil glare. How was is SOLDIER's fault that the Turks got called in earlier than usual? The two programs only crossed each other a handful of times in past missions. Right now they were crossing more than before because of Demyx and the others having knowledge about the different worlds and Organization XIII. Getting her butt kicked by Larxene had pissed her off big time, but she'd found out since that both Demyx and Zexion could use clones as well, so at least she could gain a better grasp of how to defend or offend against them.

"How the hell is it SOLDIER's fault?!"

Demyx shook his head as he leaned up on his elbows to meet her glare, he couldn't help but grin as he answered.

"Look - I never said it was SOLDIER'S fault - all I said was I'm blaming them."

_"I would still stand tall, coz behind it all, you're the one who's made a winner out of me…"_

"Smart ass!"

Demyx smirked as he avoided a vicious kick. Got her smiling though! He actually liked that song…whatever _**it **_was. He liked the guitar in it, the lyrics weren't too bad either. She'd had it playing on the stereo in Seventh Heaven yesterday when they'd been trying to track down the last of her possessions, though that hadn't exactly gone to plan, the more things he and Danni had put into the few boxes, the more stuff Denzel and Marlene - who had arrived back with Barret while they'd been packing - had taken back out and hidden on them.

"What's the song?"

Danni furrowed her brow as she thought, silently wondering what song he was on about. After a few seconds it clicked with her - he was on about the song which was still coming from her phone - she was slow in the mornings, as well as evidently oblivious to the painfully obvious. She honestly couldn't remember where she had first heard it, but it was now her favourite song. Sure, the lyrics were a little lovey-dovey, but the song was the kind of song that hooked whoever listened to it and made them fall in love with it.

"Uhh, If My World Stops Turning, some dude called Chris Doran sings it…uhh, I'll end up being late."

Late, that's all she needed. She'd get that look from Angeal and a snipe from Genesis. She could really do without that today. Lazard was trying to station some of the second and third classes in other worlds. Easier said than done. Zexion had been the first to lay down some rules in regards to the other worlds, as odd as that sounded, but the young man had been taking a somewhat leading role with anything that involved the other worlds. He refused point blank to open a portal to The World That Never Was or to allow any SOLDIER operatives there. It was for their own safety at the end of the day.

"No you won't, portals come in handy for more than just sneaking up on people."

_"I hear a voice inside my head, say you're an angel in disguise…"_

With one final spiteful groan, Danni threw he legs over the side of the bed. Yawning as she stood up and looked around, silently wondering where her phone had landed. She hadn't realised before that her alarm kept going for that length of time, she'd usually fallen back asleep by now or knocked it off. Strategy for the day: get dressed, eat, survive work, eat some more, then sleep some more. Seemed like a good plan of attack to her, but things were always better in theory than in practise. Demyx had let given her a heads up however, just in case Axel decided to try and make some entertainment for himself, and my a heads up she meant Sandra. The nineteen-year-old smiled triumphantly as she located her phone down behind the bedside locker.

He still wasn't getting up. Demyx much preferred pulling the duvet up over his head and turning over, trying to gain even a few minutes more sleep.

"Get up! I'm not suffering on my own!"

Danni did the first thing that came to her mind as she spotted her boyfriend pulling the duvet back up over his head, she grabbed the closest pillow and let fly with it…

* * *

"How come you're not wearing a proper uniform like the others?"

Danni shrugged as she looked herself up and down, dark navy combats, their ends tucked into the trademark SOLDIER boots, tied at the front with a zip as opposed to laces. The only thing she had decided not to sport was the shoulder armour and the large belt with the SOLDIER insignia. She'd never liked the shoulder armour, okay it did have a purpose, but it just annoyed her and made it more difficult to move and dodge. As for the belt - it was a stupid size, used mainly for the straps that secured the shoulder armour, so without that she didn't really need to wear it.

"1st Class SOLDIERs have a relaxed uniform policy - look at Genesis and Sephiroth."

Demyx nodded as he wiped sleep from one of his eyes. It couldn't be natural being at work this early. It was only gone six, it was still dark outside, the sky was only beginning to grey. Even the reception hall of ShinRa was near empty, which was an extremely rare sight. The place was usually full of idle chatter, between people visiting the museums - which had apparently been in the original headquarters - along with staff and allies, the place had always been bustling. Unlike now, with only two of the four receptionists sitting at their desks, one of which he certainly recognised with her light blue eyes and long chestnut locks and the tall fiery-haired young man leaning over her desk talking and laughing - if Axel was still trying to hide their developing relationship he was doing a rather bad job of it.

* * *

"I see you're still not a morning person?"

"Don't go there Angeal…"

Angeal smirked as Danni waved a hand in his general direction as she hid a yawn behind her hand. She'd never been good at getting up in the mornings. One would have thought she'd have grown out of it by now, but evidently not. She'd have to wake up rather quickly though, things were already in full swing here. Many of unit's members were using ShinRa's staff accommodation, between apartments and in-building sleeping quarters. Which meant there were always some people on the floor working. He had to hand it to Rufus, the kid had pulled out all the stops to resurrect the program in the space of time he had. He'd made several public announcements regarding the return of SOLDIER, as well as making the floor operable in less than a week. The SOLDIER dreaded to know how much gil had been spent in order to install the equipment necessary for the force to operate once more.

"The SOLDIER mainframes have been joined with a main terminal Cid set up in Hollow Bastion, which has opened up a lot of other terminal ports. A number of the 3rd Classes are working on where exactly the terminals are and what information they may hold."

Danni nodded slowly, watching the uniformed individuals working in near silence, attempting to gain information and locations on the targets. It was odd being back and watching the force work on a singular target as opposed to running little errands for a greedy company who were fighting with a kingdom of ninjas. But at least they were working together this time around.

"I've seen that mainframe, I've already opened a portal to Sephiroth's profile on it."

She shrugged as Angeal threw her a funny look. It was only Sephiroth's profile and even at that it didn't give away all that much about SOLDIER itself. It was a read-only file she'd pulled up to prove a point.

"A guy there - he's a See-D apparently - he was mouthing off, so I pulled it up."

Angeal nodded as he turned and walked towards a table piled with identical looking brown files. He bent over the table as he opened the top file - a Junon file - Junon officials had seen fit to send down innumerable files upon learning of SOLDIERs' return, apparently they now saw their Turk recruits as suitable material for the force. He didn't find that very likely. It had been years since Junon had successfully taken in SOLDIER recruits due to the force's disappearance and now miraculously they'd pulled up individuals suitable of the venerable unit. He didn't mean anything against the Turks, but Turks and SOLDIERs were extremely different and excelled in different areas.

"Junon officials are as big-headed as ever…you didn't sleep at Seventh Heaven?"

Danni hid another yawn as she stood alongside him, picking up her own file and leafing through it. It belonged to a young woman, in her early twenties, there were several sheets of comments written by her commanding official at Junon, but most knew at this stage that what they wrote on those pages was mostly bullshit. By the look of her field work reports, her main ability was that of a long-range sniper. That was enough information for her - a member of SOLDIER needed to be balanced in all field work aspects, not simply firearms, and from a long range too. She would probably go far in the Turks, but truth being told she'd drown in SOLDIER.

"Why did they send these, have they forgotten the criteria needed, or do they think we have? I slept at Demyx's."

"They've always been big-headed in their training methods, they've just decided these individuals are SOLDIER material now. Why did you sleep at his?"

This time it was Danni's turn to give the SOLDIER a funny look. He was intelligent, surely he could figure out why she'd slept at her boyfriends, right? She certainly wasn't about to go into a detailed explanation for him either way! She smirked as she cast the file aside and turned her back to the table, leaning against it as she spoke, knowing full well that some of the 3rd Classes near by were listening in on their private conversation. She could see by how they kept looking to each other, then back to the screens of their terminals.

"Angeal, you have a brain, use it. I'm not about explain about the birds and the bees to you…or to you two - now quit it and get back to work!"

Danni relished they way the two of them jumped slightly in their seats, before locking their gazes onto their individual screens. The last time she'd worked for ShinRa, well not so much worked - she hadn't gotten paid so therefore she hadn't exactly been an employee - but she'd only been a kid, a kid which few had known of. Now she was a senior 1st Class in her own right, she had the authority to direct both levels below her and if she so wished; to mentor her own pupil, though that could wait for a while yet. She knew looking around the large computer-based room, few within the walls actually respected her. Of course she couldn't hold that against any one of them, they'd stuck by SOLDIER itself despite deserting ShinRa, they'd spent years in each other's companies while keeping below the radar. Where had she been? At home with her family. That wasn't her fault, but now she was here acting as a superior to them. A handful of them knew who she was and who she had been trained in by. But the majority of them didn't, so therefore they didn't see why they should have to answer to a female, who was not only younger than most of them, but had also seemingly appeared out of nowhere and walked straight into a 1st Class position.

"These files are a waste of time and resources, ShinRa needs to stay on top of Sephiroth and the Remnants as much as possible, not waste time on Turk recruits that some stuck-up idiot sees fit to enter SOLDIERs ranks. I've moved out of Seventh Heaven."

Angeal nodded. He agreed with what she'd said about Junon wasting their time and resources. Those two youngsters were listening in again, he was watching them out of the corner of his eye, Danni had reprimanded them pretty fast, but they hadn't listened to her, just disregarded her words. Because of her collaring them first, he couldn't now step in and do so. It would just back up their interpretation of her as not worth respect and undermine her authority. She would have to deal with them her own way if she wanted to have respect from any of them. 3rd Class SOLDIERs were the ones that tended to try patience the most. The were usually the youngest in the force - with the exception of a few, such as Danni - and they were also the ones who had the farthest to go in their careers. Okay, the fact that both he and Danni were having a conversation that was going between work and personal life maybe wasn't suitable in a work environment, but that was none of their concern.

"Agreed. Lazard is contacting the head at Junon to inform them that while their eagerness to boost the numbers of this force are noted, SOLDIER does not see itself recruiting new members anytime in the near future. I don't think I need to ask who you've moved in with, when did you two decide that?"

"The day I got my butt kicked by Larxene…psychotic bitch-"

Danni cut herself off slightly as she noticed one of those two idiots skit under his breath. Maybe he'd just thought of something really funny, but that laugh had come in close timing to her mentioning getting her butt handed to her. She'd only been in the room less than half an hour and he'd already managed to piss her off. She narrowed her eyes as she stared at the back of the young man's head, short dark brown hair, a piercing in his left ear, a tattoo meandered its' way along his right arm - it looked like tree of some sort from where she was sitting - he looked only a few years older than herself. She felt her patience reach it's limit as he bent across to the young man beside him and whispered a comment. She glanced back to her past mentor as she stood from leaning against the table.

"Name?"

"Rick Matthews."

"Matthews - pull up file number 76748084"

She knew those were insults he whispered as he searched for the file number. The fact that an extra window popped up once he'd clicked into the file didn't help subdue his evident displeasure. She didn't care all that much to be honest. It was asking for her clearance code, though she knew her file had always been coded, someone had upped it to restricted in the last few days, probably Lazard. The young woman walked over to the terminal to enter her code, but stopped as the male sitting there didn't move.

"Move aside…"

He still didn't move. Rick instead looked up at the woman standing alongside his chair, he didn't see why he had to answer to her. She was late teens, early twenties at the most. He was twenty three, why should he have to answer to someone who had only appeared around the building in the last few days? This was the first time he'd seen her in a SOLDIER uniform, and to be painfully honest, he didn't think she had the chops to wear it.

Danni nodded as she met his trademark mako eyes. She smiled sweetly as she placed her right foot against one of the back legs of his seat, she gave him another few seconds before kicking back hard against the leg and sending the seat out from under the unsuspecting young man. Then proceeded to type in her clearance code before turning and looking down, this time making sure she got her point across clearly.

"The next time I tell you to do something, you do it. I've been a member of this force a lot longer than you. I'm one of your superiors - get used to that idea."

Danni pushed several of the brown files aside as she sat up on the table, turning back to Angeal as she continued where she'd left off, allowing Rick to reclaim his seat and read her profile, which she'd opened on his terminal.

* * *

**_A/N: Thanks for reading huns!_**


	26. Promise

**_A/N: Hey huns, sorry this took so long to get up. Only a few weeks left in school now and it's panic stations! Trying to get stuff sorted for the graduation mass, people to do readings, studying stuff I haven't a clue of, working out timing for questions, trying to track down long lost notes, a shit load of homework....._**

* * *

_"Wow, you finally made it up to my shoulder squirt…well, almost."_

She knew that voice, he was smiling too. She could tell that even from just his voice. It was weird though, hearing it with her own ears again instead of just an empty whisper of a memory. She leaned back an inch or two just to prove herself wrong, but stopped as her back met someone else's. She wanted to turn around to see for herself, but she didn't want to be let down either, so she chose to stare at the blinding white instead.

_"Ignore Cloud when he's being stand off-ish, same with Angeal actually, they just get caught up with things a lot of the time."_

"Zack, I-"

_"We'll talk properly soon, the Ancients finally got off their butts and made a decision, so just don't get in too much trouble until then, kay?"_

"_**Wake the hell up already!"**_

Danni snapped her eyes open as the floor rushed up to meet her. She took a moment or two to flex her fingers along the carpeted floor, identifying it as the floor of the living room in Seventh Heaven. She remembered coming over after work, then offering to stay while Tifa went to Elena's for something, Marlene had been sick with the last few days and was asleep upstairs, so someone had needed to stay in case the girl woke up. Cloud had taken Denzel to the old Church where they'd first met, Cloud had promised the boy during the week, and earlier had been the only free time he'd had to keep that promise…so how had she ended up being capped off of the sofa?

"Danni - get up!"

That was Denzel's voice. Danni wiped sleep from her eyes as she slowly peeled herself off of the floor and sat upon the edge of the sofa. Still slightly disorientated from her sudden jolt back to consciousness. Despite her tiredness, the young woman quickly became alert as she turned her gaze to Denzel. The boy was out of breath, his jeans were rent and torn in several places while other spots were flecked with blood and dust, his jumper wasn't in much of a better state. But what had caught her attention was the long cut stretching down his right cheek. Danni grabbed the boy's chin and turned his face sideways in an attempt to gain a better view of the injury. It was long, spanning the length of his cheek, and deep, extremely so.

"Denzel - what happened?!"

Denzel snapped his head away quickly, her grip causing the gash to flare up painfully. He didn't have time to explain, none of them did - Cloud didn't. He hadn't wanted to leave Cloud on his own, but the Shadow Creepers had shown up and Cloud had yelled at him to leave. Despite his usual stubbornness, Denzel knew better than to argue with Cloud. He had done as instructed, but one of the Shadow Creepers had seen him, it had taken off after him and tripped him up, dragging its claws the length of his calf…they weren't serious cuts, not as deep as the one he'd gained on his face. He had managed to kick the putrid beast back down the hill it had climbed while chasing him.

"A Shadow Creeper - Danni there're loads of them - I was with Cloud and they just appeared."

Danni stood, immediately putting her dream to the back of her head as she focused on what was happening. How the youngster was not crying or in agony was utterly beyond her, the cut was extremely deep and needed medical treatment as soon as possible before it became infected. It would require stitches at the very least and would undoubtedly leave the youngster sporting a scar.

"Where's Tifa?"

Denzel wiped some of the blood that had made its way down the side of his face away with the sleeve of his jumper, wincing slightly as the stinging pain only increased. He had run into Tseng on the way back, quite literally too, he'd run around a corner and slammed into the off-duty Turk, who had quickly noticed the blood and cuts, leading to several questions. Tseng had made Tifa go to ShinRa along with Elena and Yuffie, adamant that the three pregnant females were to be nowhere near a fight if it were to ensue.

"Tseng knows what happened, he made her go to ShinRa - Marlene's still upstairs - we need to go, c'mon already!"

She had never thought in a million years that she would be taking orders from a pre-teen, but Denzel was rather straight up for his age and seemed to have some idea of how these things worked. Then again, look at who he lived with and the people who were a part of his life. Danni nodded and tossed her phone to the youngster as she turned and ran up the stairs to grab Marlene.

"Call any of the Organization guys, ask them to open a portal from ShinRa to here."

Denzel nodded as he opened the black flip phone and scrolled down through her contacts list, stopping as he found the name and number of the person e was most familiar and friendly with out of the gang of nobodies.

"Mmm, what's going on?"

"Shush hun, go back asleep, we have to go to ShinRa for a little while…"

Danni smiled despite the sickening chaos of the moment. Poor Marlene had been ill with the last few days, fever and headaches, the poor dote wasn't her usual self at all, sleeping a lot of the time and being down in the dumps. Denzel had tried to cheer her up and spent a lot of his time with her. Something Tifa had filled her in on as his way of paying his little sister back for when she'd looked after him whilst he'd had Geostigma. Danni halted as she spotted her old black hoody hanging over the back of Denzel's bed - she would collar him about that later when things were back to normal and he wasn't in pain - she grabbed the hoody as she hoisted Marlene up on her hip and placed the large hoody over her small frame before heading back out the bedroom door and down the stairs.

"What the fuck happened you?!"

Denzel ducked as Roxas' hand made a beeline for the side of his face. For smart people, they were pretty dumb. It was obvious it hurt like hell - so why were they all so keen on touching it? Roxas stopped annoying Denzel as he spotted Danni entering the bar with a sleeping Marlene in her arms. They'd been just about to call her, Tseng had alerted ShinRa to what Denzel had relayed to him. No clear reports had made it back regarding whether or not it was just Shadow Creepers or not. But no one was taking chances either way. It was already late and dark outside, that certainly wouldn't make things any easier.

Danni faltered as several vivid images shot across her mind against her will and at a great speed_…Kadaj…Loz…Yazoo…him…_

"Yo Danni - what's up?"

Roxas watched Danni with a wary gaze as her footing wobbled dangerously for a second or two before she caught onto the side of the counter and steadied herself. But what worried him more than her closely missed tumble was the look that now adorned her face.

"Danni?"

"Sephiroth's there."

* * *

Denzel looked around quickly, expecting to be on the SOLDIER floor or at least in the reception of the ShinRa building. However, to his dismay, he found himself staring at the pristine white walls of the sterilized medical wing.

"Hey!"

Roxas merely stuck his tongue out at the youngster as he looked to him with extreme disgust evident upon his face. He could be disgusted all he wished but first things first. He needed to be looked over and cleaned up before anything else. He knew if Denzel had his way, they'd be in the briefing room right now trying to organize the madness that was quickly forming. But the eleven-year-old needed to at the very least have the gash on his cheek looked at if nothing else.

"Go ahead, I'll stay with him."

Danni nodded as she hoisted the still sleeping young girl up further on her hip, resting her head in the crook of her neck.

All eyes shot to the doors of the elevator as Danni stepped out of them and onto the SOLDIER floor. There were still a lot of personnel on the floor for this time, work hours had ended several hours ago at this stage, there should just be the skeleton shift on right now, but looking around she knew it wasn't simply the skeleton staff. She disregarded the questioning eyes of a group of 3rd Classes as she spotted a familiar face.

"Kunsel - where's the director?"?

"Briefing room."

"Avalanche and the 1st Classes?"

"Same place - why? What's actually going on here?"

Danni bit back a yawn as she continued to walk towards the briefing room, talking quickly and lowly to Kunsel as he kept pace with her.

"Denzel and Cloud went to the Church that used to be in the slums, Shadow Creepers showed up, Cloud made Denzel go but a Shadow Creeper caught up with him."

"Denzel…he's that brown-haired kid, Cloud and Tifa's, right?"

She nodded, careful not to disturb Marlene as she did so. Technically speaking Denzel wasn't their sun, but in everything apart from blood he was. In her eyes, that's what mattered. Family was defined by how much another was willing to sacrifice for another, not how many allele's their DNA had in common.

"Is the kid okay - alive even?"

"He got away from it, came back and woke me up. He has a pretty sever gash down his right cheek, a few others, he was limping too though I didn't have time to question him on it, other than that he's pretty okay and disgusted with being in the medical wing right now. Kunsel - Sephiroth is there now."

Kunsel halted suddenly as he registered her words. Stunned was one way to describe his face. Shadow Creepers were one thing, but if Sephiroth was there - then what were they all still doing at the building - leaving Cloud to fend for himself? He remembered the blond from when he'd been recruited by ShinRa all those years ago - he would never say a word against the man, he was the only person who had stood three years ago when SOLDIER had chosen to stay in the shadows, but they'd all seen how it had ended three years ago, the then twenty-two-year old had been lucky to leave that battle with his life, and had only done so by the skin of his teeth. That had only been against Sephiroth then, but as the odds stood, if he was there now, then so too were the three remnants.

Danni stood still as she stepped into the briefing room, ignoring the majority of people as Tifa stood almost immediately, her eyes pleading and asking the question her lips failed to word. All she had been told so far was that Shadow Creepers had shown up where Cloud and Denzel had been, along with Denzel getting hurt. Danni mentally cursed whoever had partially filled Tifa in on the matter, it was pretty simple - either tell everything or nothing at all - telling half a story only proved to confuse people in the end and stress them out. Also, stress and a pregnancy five months along did not go well together.

"Denzel's at the medical wing, Roxas is with him. He has a gash on his face and a few other minor cuts, other than that he's fine…managed to cap me off the couch when I was fast asleep, so there can't be that much wrong with him."

She smiled in response to Barret's grateful nod as he took Marlene from her arms. She looked around the room quickly, judging the amount of people in it before speaking rather bluntly. She did not know how to explain how she knew Sephiroth was at the Midgar ruins, she just knew for some reason. And unless someone helped soon, Denzel would lose his second father.

"Do you all trust me?"

A moment of silence before nods of heads accompanied by slowly spoken wary words of agreement from the people within the briefing room. Though she would have preferred for them all to have answered straight away and more confidently, but then again her question had been pretty random and out of the blue, it must have thrown them somewhat. But they trusted her, that was all that mattered, she had no concrete proof to show them that Sephiroth was fighting Cloud, only her word.

"Then c'mon. Cloud is fighting Sephiroth, the remnants are there too."

Genesis stared at the young woman for a moment or two before pushing himself away from the wall he had been leaning against and standing alongside her, mirroring Angeal's actions as he stood by her other side. A third person stood behind her, quickly joined by three others, though none wore the SOLDIER uniform, but Turks instead.

Demyx whispered lowly as he stood behind his girlfriend, watching as the others within the room stood - all apart from Tifa, Yuffie and Elena, the three of which were strictly banned from fighting whatsoever, he watched as Barret handed Marlene to Tifa as he stood, getting ready for whatever was about to follow - a portal was the obvious route of transport, though he knew Rufus wouldn't go through one if he could avoid it, for some odd reason the company President had a severe disliking to the corridors of darkness. He would probably go on one of the ShinRa choppers, the rest could use the portals…if only he actually knew where they were supposedly going.

"A portal is fastest, only I have no idea where wherever is, do you?"

Danni nodded as he stood closer behind her, dropping one of his arms over her left shoulder, crossing it across her chest, still whispering quietly as he summoned a portal behind them.

"Concentrate on the place…"

* * *

"Is this the right plac-"

Demyx ducked as a gunshot rang out, he grabbed Danni's arm and pulled her down along with him, making sure they were both out of any danger. He was willing to venture a guess that this was the right place after all.

"I think I got my answer…"

Both were cut off from further discussion of their whereabouts as the sound of metal clashing against the ground filled the relatively quiet air - the echo of the clash had barely faded before the crackle of an electric charge entered the fight, immediately followed by the dull thud of someone colliding heavily with a wall.

Her hands had closed around the handle of Cloud's core blade before she was aware of her actions. Her attention only snapped back into place as she found herself staring into ice-cold jade eyes across two contrasting and clashing blades. She saw the small tugs at the side of his lips conveying a small smirk. Danni couldn't help but wonder how things had come to what they had, she could hear the rhythmical beats of a chopper's blades in the distance. Sure, she hadn't ever really seen eye to eye with the man, despite attempts to, he'd been a General and she'd been a kid, a lack of patience on both sides of the age-gap had done no favours. But he had always had his own morals, his own motives and his own reasons for standing solely by SOLDIER…how could he have just thrown them all to the side?

"I see you received Mother's call, Danielle."

She was vaguely aware of Demyx a few feet behind her, helping Cloud back to his feet. The older blond sported numerous cuts and scrapes, a few more serious gashes marked his arms and legs, having taken the most of brunt. But one look at him and exhaustion was clearly evident. She heard him ask where Denzel was before disappearing further away from her and Sephiroth through a portal. She shook her head as she tried to clear her mind and pay attention to what was going on, she was finding it harder than usual to focus on the task at hand, Cloud's blade felt heavier than it should have in her hands, granted it wasn't the lightest of weapons at the best of times, but she was using his core blade, which was the lightest out of all six blades.

"Is he what you cherish?"

Danni snapped her head around upon hearing his quiet words. She stepped back as he separated from the clash. The small smirk still adorning his abnormally thin lips as he watched Cloud and Demyx step from the portal. She didn't like his voice, or how he watched the two blonds with some enjoyment.

"Keep watching…"

She did as he said, despite the voice screaming in the back of her mind to disregard his words, she subconsciously ensured her guard was still up, making sure she hadn't allowed her self to leave it waver. She watched as a taller male with a large and solid frame appeared across from where her boyfriend stood, her eyes quickly took in several notable features of the man, black dreadlocks, extremely large sideburns…she continued to watch as the man summoned what looked like lances. Her heart skipped a beat as Demyx dodged one of the lances, only for another to brutally impale him through the shoulder. Almost immediately, several odd white creatures appeared around the younger nobody, each wearing what looked like a woollen hat, with pants of the same colour and the same symbol on their thighs, the same mark that was on Demyx and the other's arms.

"Danny - pay attention!"

That was Angeal's voice - Danni glanced back as Sephiroth moved, rushing her. The young woman narrowly missed his elongated blade as the shock of their blades connecting shook her arms, causing her to notice just how superior his strength was as opposed to her, something she had always been aware of but had never full acknowledged. Her fighting depended solely on using her opponents strength against them due to most her opponents being larger built than her as matters stood. Danni bit her lip as she took several steps back, trying to offset his blows as they continued to reign down. She was sacrificing ground by trying to keep her guard up, she didn't want to, but needed to. A deafening crack of thunder distracted her mind long enough for Sephiroth to land a vicious blow.

Danni felt the breath being jarred from her lungs as her back met solid brick with force. She heard herself cry out as Cloud's blade fell from her grip as agony raced across the top half of her back. Her teeth slammed together as the pain tore across the top of her shoulders, triggering a certain unwanted memory of a training simulation gone wrong.

"Familiar yet?"

His grip was vice-like around her throat, his eyes as cold as ever as they held her gaze, silently delighting in how she kicked out against him, missing by mere centimetres. How her hands closed around his wrist as she tried to support her own weight somehow, trying desperately to brace her feet against something. How her eyes began to dull from lack of oxygen…

Danni felt her eyes widen as cold steel entered her body, for a moment or two it was just an odd sensation of cold air piercing through her, then the pain followed, tearing and ripping through her lower abdomen. Her breath caught in the back of her throat as he twisted the blade cruelly, still holding her gaze. It burned like fire as he withdrew his masamune deliberately slow, savouring every ounce of pain he was inflicting upon his past pupil.

"Do not stand against me again."

Danni watched from where she lay as he left. She groaned and bit back as she tried to stand, making it as far as her knees before giving way and hitting the ground once more, she closed her eyes as she took in the sounds of all the others, the screeches of the shadow creepers, the clashing of metal, the shouts of people, the ringing of gunshots, the thunder overhead, the rain as it pelted down turning into a downpour in mere seconds…

* * *

_**A/N: It's a little longer than some of the other chapters, I'd wrote this out on paper during some of my classes (due to utter boredom), but only got a chance to type it up tonight. Anyhow, thanks for reading huns!**_


	27. Surprises

_**A/N: Hiya huns! Back again :P**_

* * *

"No jokes, no tricks?"

The woman shook her head, her long chestnut tresses pulled over to one side over her shoulder, her haunting green eyes hiding nothing from the SOLDIER as he looked at her in earnest, almost afraid in case what she had just said was merely a cruel joke on behalf of her and the other Cetra. But it wasn't, it was a decision that had been reached by them all, of course there had been the few who had objected and with due reason. What they were allowing went against almost all of their rules and morals as guardians of the Promised Land. But so was denying innocent souls entry and that hadn't stopped them doing so Zack or Aerith. They did not have any other choice. The Calamity's power was growing at a substantial rate, Sephiroth and his three brothers had grown greatly in strength and abilities, those who had stood against them all along were now no longer capable of holding their own against them. It may go against almost every rule the Ancients stood by, but Ifalna felt it was the right thing to do. The two had not been allowed to enter the Promised Land because their roles had not yet been fulfilled. It had taken much debate, but they had all come to the same decision together, a decision which had personally delighted Ifalna. Aerith had grown up so much, but they had met again far too soon.

"No catches Zack, just one condition - help them as much as you can. The Calamity can not return, if she does, then all is lost."

Zack nodded, help them…that went without saying. He almost didn't want to believe Ifalna, just in case it wasn't true. But she wouldn't lie to them, especially not Aerith. It wasn't in the woman's nature to lie to anyone. He watched in silence as the Cetra walked away from him and Aerith, smiling his thanks before the woman faded along with the white behind her.

The first thing he noticed was the rain, how it bit as it struck his exposed skin, soaking him through in seconds, ironic really. He had left this place after losing a fight, lying in a downpour of rain, and he had been permitted to return after a battle had been lost in the throws of another downpour. The man shook his head, quickly returning to reality as he ran forward, having suddenly remembered what he had witnessed. He had wanted to help her before she'd gotten hurt too bad, but Ifalna hadn't let him, he'd had to watch instead…

"Danni! C'mon Squirt, I kept my promise…"

Zack skidded to a halt on his knees alongside Danni, she didn't open her eyes though. Just continued to draw shallow and short breaths, her face was sickly pale, her whole frame was soaked and cold from the rain. The man clenched his teeth together as he slipped an arm beneath her knees and the other behind her neck, lifting her slight weight from the ground - Sephiroth would pay - one way or another the ex-General would pay for hurting his little sister. He spun quickly as he registered the sound of someone or something else skidding to a halt, his first thought was of Shadow Creepers, his second was of Aerith, and the third was of the fact that he had Danni in his arms, not a weapon.

Demyx ground to a sudden halt as he locked gazes with shimmering amethyst irises. It took him only a second to realise why the man seemed so familiar. He'd seen his picture before, he was the one in the picture inside Danni's locket, but she had always referred to him in the past tense. He still remembered the day she'd woken up in ShinRa after Gongaga had been attacked, he'd been there when Cloud had explained about Zack. He felt his blood freeze in his veins as he spotted the pool of crimson on the ground, along with the tear in the back of Danni's grey tank top, outlined in the same hue that marred the barren ground.

"Danni…"

He'd already decided where his loyalties lay. Demyx rose his hand as he summoned a portal behind the man, only then noticing the woman standing behind him. He could figure out who she was later. The portal led back to the choppers. Danni couldn't stay in a portal any longer than that. The portals were constructed of darkness. Literally speaking anyone with a heart shouldn't be using them, darkness strove to over-take a heart. But anyone possessing a strong heart would be fine using the portals. He and the others wouldn't leave someone with a susceptible heart use a portal. Danni's heart was strong, but right now she was hurt and unconscious, which made it unable to fight off the pull of darkness. For that reason, he wasn't willing to open a portal over any larger distance.

"It leads to the choppers."

* * *

"Where's Danni?"

Angeal glanced around quickly, lowering his katana, surveying the dying chaos surrounding him as he tried to spot the young woman. The remnants had just upped and left, giving no reason or explanation for doing so. That annoyed him greatly, why bother engaging in a fight when you were going to walk away in the middle of it? It was stupidity and cowardice. The three may have left, but in their wake stood more than enough Shadow Creepers, kindly summoned by the youngest of the remnants as they left. He had only seen her once since leaving the ShinRa building, she'd ended up facing Sephiroth, her being her; she hadn't been paying attention as she should of, so he had yelled at her to do so, after that he'd lost sight of her again. Angeal turned as a materializing dark wisp caught the corner of his eye, a few weeks ago that had confused him and made him wary, but in the time that had passed he'd come to recognise it as a portal opening. He had been expecting Demyx or one of the others to step from the darkness, at worse one of the remaining Organization members, but that wasn't who stepped from the portal.

_Spikey black hair, violet eyes shining with mako energy, SOLDIER uniform, _

Angeal knew who he was looking at, but also knew what had happened to him. As far as he knew, Zexion was the only person capable of creating and using illusions, but what if another member of Organization XIII was too? The SOLDIER's guard immediately went up, as did his katana as the man realized who was before him.

"Angeal - it's me."

It sounded like him, he could not deny that, but it wasn't possible. Zack groaned as he noticed no drop change in his mentor's disposition. Though he couldn't exactly blame the man for not being willing to trust him…actually he would have been shocked if he had. But that was besides the point - they didn't have time to stand around and wait for someone to cop onto things. Aerith had stayed back with Demyx, mainly because Demyx wouldn't leave her through a portal, saying instead that he would explain why later, but she just couldn't for now. He thought for a second or two before a phrase popped into his head, one he was sure would prove who he was.

"_Use brings about wear... tear... and rust. And that's a real waste - _now do you believe me - don't have time for this, she's hurt bad!"

* * *

It hadn't taken very long to get back to ShinRa. Once Angeal had seen the extend of Danni's injuries any lingering indifference and wariness he had possessed had literally gone out the window. Reno's face had been funny though, the look upon the Turk's face when he'd turned around in the pilot's seat to see him, Danni and Angeal onboard had been enough to make anyone laugh. So far, anyone he had been faced with had treated him with extreme wariness, but again, he couldn't blame them. He and Aerith had died, Cloud had watched both of them do so. And now they were standing before them all. Aerith had stayed back with the others, who were now in a side room at the end of the medical wing. Hopefully she was doing her best to explain exactly why they had been allowed to return and how they had been forced to watch on from a limbo-like state of existence. He really did hope she was explaining, because he honestly didn't know where or how to begin, he confused himself just thinking about it. He had to admit though, the looks people had been giving him was hilarious. Especially Tyler's reaction to seeing him. The doctor must have thought he'd finally cracked up. It was weird how much the place resembled the Midgar base, if he hadn't known any better, he would have guessed he was still in Midgar. Even the staff were familiar. A lot of them must have returned to the company post-meteor. Tyler had just finished informing him of Danni's state, though the tone of mistrust had still been clearly evident in the man's voice.

"Should have guessed…"

Zack sighed upon walking into the almost empty off-duty lounge, having ventured a guess that Angeal had gone there instead of the side room. The side room of the ward was currently housing most of the others, Angeal had never been one to sit amongst a crowd, waiting for an answer. He didn't say things all that much, but he'd separated himself from the group, which made it clearly evident to the younger man that something was bothering him.

"We weren't allowed to pass. We were forced to watch it all…Meteor, Geostigma - Gongaga…told that it was the way things had to be. Then Ifalna said we were given permission to return, under the condition we try to help."

He suddenly decided he no longer liked silence. It was uncomfortable, awkward, long, awkward again and deafening in a sense. Minutes dragged past, elongated by the unnatural silence, before Angeal spoke, albeit quieter than usual.

"What happened her?"

"Quick explanation - Sephiroth. Tyler said her mako levels are screwed up for some reason, and have been for the last week or so. She wasn't paying attention properly coz of it, he threw her back against one of the walls, pulled her up by her throat…then stabbed her."

Silence again, but this time Zack knew why. Angeal had seen her spacing out, he had yelled for her to pay attention, but he hadn't taken over from her. And now she had gotten hurt because of that. He was blaming himself.

"What is it with you lot? You're all so willing to take the blame for things that aren't you fault! Seriously - between you, Cloud and Danni - lighten up!"

He couldn't help but smile, Zack had managed to figure out what he had been thinking and kicked his butt for it in mere seconds.

"How is she?"

Serious note - way to kill a good mood. Zack sighed again, standing alongside his old mentor as he stared out the window, randomly taking note of how this seemed to be a favourite past time with these lot too. It was kinda awe-inspiring to see how the people of Midgar had dragged themselves up from the ground and back to their feet, starting over again.

"Tyler said they'd stopped the internal bleeding, she has a few stitches on the front of her stomach and on her lower back. Her shoulders are badly bruised, one of them cracked along where one of the pins are, it's not broken but it's still pretty sore. Bruises around her throat, along with bumps, bruises and something unsettling her mako levels."

Now all he had to do was go figure out where the blond kid had got to and explain to him too, after he'd told Demyx then he wanted to go to sleep in a corner somewhere or maybe under something. He honestly didn't see how he could be so tired though, it wasn't as if he'd been fighting or anything…he turned as the door opened, revealing Tyler. The look on the man's face immediately announced that he had identified why Danni's mako levels were unsettled.

* * *

"How long have you and Danni been together?"

Demyx looked up quickly as the door opened suddenly, allowing two males to enter, the younger of which was currently ignoring everyone else's questions, demanding an answer from him instead.

"Two months, maybe a little more than that - why?"

Zack groaned as he spun on his heels, stretching his arms behind his head as he walked around the relatively large room aimlessly, mumbling quietly to himself as he tried to work things out in his head. He silently wondered if Ifalna had known of everything to happen before she allowed them back. Stress was a total understatement.

"Great…four weeks…brilliant…She'll be twenty in a few weeks, he's already that…two ShinRa wages…Turks get more…she'll be on internal work for a while…can't train or fight till after now…if she doesn't lose it in the meantime."

Still he continued to walk around, looking at the ceiling while still locked in debate with himself. Two months was a long-ish relationship for youngsters, he knew that. But it was an extremely short relationship in regards to responsibilities. Big responsibilities. He wasn't going to get angry at the blond, there wasn't really much point in doing so, unless of course he wouldn't take responsibility. If that was going to be the case, then things were going to get complicated and dangerous rather quickly. And now he was giving himself a migraine.

Demyx watched the bothered SOLDIER with a growing sense of unease. His thoughts immediately turning to Danni, a horrible and sickening feeling forming in the pit of his stomach - he wanted to know if she was okay - he wanted to know what hell Zack was talking to himself about.

"Is she okay?"

Zack halted mid-step, a small smirk on his lips, his sense of humour picking the most inappropriate moment to pop up.

"No, she's not - but the baby is."

There was that silence again, though this time he took his own silent enjoyment in the vacuum of sound. The stunned looks on the faces staring at him as the silence continued only fed his own enjoyment and sense of humour. The silence was only broken by a rather audible _thud_, which rang out in timing with someone falling from the back of the sofa.

**_"Gross!"_**

"Danni's going to have a baby - can I be its Auntie?!"

Oh, this just couldn't get any better - between Denzel's disgusted face and reaction along with Marlene's over excitement - he would have to compliment both of them on their timing later. Talk about adding fuel to the fire, now he knew why he'd missed this so much, watching and being a part of are two extremely different things.

"You are officially the first guy to know his girlfriend's pregnant before she does."

Demyx blinked. What was he supposed to say? Ooops? It was a bit late for that now. He wished they would all stop looking at him the way they were. Most of them were just surprised - to which he could fully relate - but others weren't. Cloud didn't look all too impressed, even though Zack was making somewhat of a joke about it all he still doubted very much that he was happy about it all. He certainly wasn't in Angeal's good books…that guy could be scarily calm when he was angry or pissed off, and as for Genesis - that man was impossible to read.

A baby though…he cared about Danni a lot, but a baby was a massive responsibility, having said that he knew he wasn't going to do wrong by her either. He looked up quickly as a thought suddenly occurred to him - what about Xemnas? What if he found out? He already had it out for him as matters stood, if he found out then he could decide to set his sights on something - someone - else. Danni of the baby. He was still a nobody - would that affect the baby? Would his abilities be passed on - was that even possible? Demyx turned and looked to the one who had been Ansem's youngest apprentice.

"Xemnas?"

Zexion merely nodded, instantly catching onto Demyx's train of thought and already knowing what had been going through the blond's head. He and the founding members had studied the workings of a heart to an extensive degree. If Xemnas found out that a renegade member of Organization XIII had a child or was expecting a child, the child would be in severe danger. Xemnas did not possess a heart, he would see no problem in taking or harming an innocent infant.

"If word gets back to him, Danni is in danger until the baby is born, after that it's both of them. He is capable of and likely to do anything he can to hurt you, be that directly or indirectly. Also, though this is only roughly speaking because you've put me on the spot, the baby will - more than likely - inherit some of or your full abilities, and the same in regards to Danni's mako and J-cells. It could also be marked with the Organization's symbol like all other nobodies, but again, I'm not fully sure…I don't wish to say so, but personally speaking I don't think he would harm the child, I think he would allow Vexen free reign."

He hadn't wanted to hear that. Vexen couldn't fight to save his ass, but his strengths lay in the lab - in experimentation. A human-nobody hybrid would grab his attention, he'd want to _study_ it…which wasn't good at all. If fact - it was very bad - Demyx hated him with a vengeance, though he had never allowed himself to show that in the man's presence.

Zack frowned as he glanced between the serious-looking blond to the other young man who had been talking quickly. His last few words had struck a chord in Demyx and now he wanted to know why.

"Who's Vexen?"

"A creep that can't fight for shit, can't carry out a mission to save his ass…"

Axel smirked as he spoke, still remembering how he had eliminated the scientist the first time around. He found extreme comfort in knowing that. Zack still didn't get it however, the description he had just heard didn't exactly sound like a threatening person, so why did Demyx look so bothered now?

"I still don't get what the big deal's about…"

"You lot had Hojo, us lot have Vexen."

Those few words explained more than enough. Nobody asked or needed further details or more information. Silence seemed to be a reoccurring theme of the night. After several minutes of painfully long silence, Rufus stood, seeing no point in sitting around, especially when it was this late and things could be getting done. He looked around, speaking both to his staff and the others.

"Go home, get some sleep. None of you are required in tomorrow if you so wish…I'm going to bed…I've had enough surprises for one day."

No one could blame the President for his last few words; between Sephiroth showing up, Zack and Aerith popping up and now the revelation of Danni's pregnancy - his sanity seriously could not handle anymore surprises.

"You should go with Cloud and Tifa."

Aerith shook her head, adamant to stay. Sure, he was joking and talking, but he was still considerably worried. He hid it well though, she had to hand it to him on that one. But a person's eyes failed to hide what the heart felt - his true feelings. She had been with him since he had passed, both barred from going back and barred from going any further - she knew him, he couldn't lie to her.

"Aerith please?"

A second or two of voiceless arguing before she nodded. Understanding is point of view and giving into his decision.

Demyx watched as the number of people within the room began to dwindle down, the first being Rufus, who was closely followed by Cloud and Tifa, Aerith and Barret behind them with Marlene - though Denzel hadn't wanted to leave, the kid had developed a particular soft spot for Danni over the last few weeks, why; he didn't know, but the youngster only left due to Cloud pushing him out the door ahead of him - then the Turks had chosen to leave, slipping out quietly and unnoticed.

"I'll inform Lazard and stay on the floor - let me know if anything happens with her."

Angeal nodded as Genesis pulled the door shut behind him, leaving only three within the suddenly empty and cold room. There was supposed to be at least one 1st Class on the SOLDIER floor at all times, right now he was supposed to be there - Danni had done her shift from early morning to evening, Genesis had done his up until the chaos of the evening and now it was his shift - he'd thank Genesis properly later for pulling a double shift without being asked to. The SOLDIER shook his head slightly looking to the two others left in the room; Zack was staring at the ceiling, lost in his own thoughts. Demyx was staring towards the floor, his eyes glazed over as his mind continued spinning - probably due to trying to comprehend what Zack had said along with Zexion's words. He looked bothered, worried too. All with due reason in the light of what had been revealed regarding Xemnas and Vexen. Angeal rolled his eyes towards the ceiling - making a mental note of not seeing what Zack found so interesting about it - as he caught sight of the blond's shoulder, his shirt ripped and stained dark red.

"Your shoulder's injured."

"I know."

"Good - then you won't argue - get it looked at."

"It's fin - ahh - what the hell?!"

Demyx shot to his feet, spinning around as his free hand clamped tightly across his injured shoulder as agony tore down through his arm. His eyes were no longer glazed over as he gave Zack, who was now standing behind him, an evil glare. Zack merely shrugged, raising his hands in a submissive gesture - he'd only been trying to get a point across.

"Yeah…your shoulder's _**really**_ fine…"

* * *

**_A/N: Just a small note, I may have mentioned this before, but just in case - I am fully aware that Zack's eyes in Crisis Core and Advent Children are blue, but when I started writing this fic I was going on his appearance in Last Order. Anyhow - that's all! :P_**


	28. A Baby

**_A/N: This chapter is a bit shorter than the previous ones, but I just wanted this bit to be on its own instead of going between people._**

* * *

"You've been told?"

Demyx nodded slowly, still not tearing his eyes away from the floor as Tyler continued to stitch his shoulder - it hurt, hurt like hell - but his mind wasn't really with it. The same set of questions were echoing in his head - how was Zack suddenly sitting in the room he had just left? And why had everyone just nodded and went home? They were all in for a shock in the morning and realised it was actually real. A small smile flitted across his face as he thought of what Cloud's reaction would be, when he woke in the morning to discover Aerith in the spare room.

"Don't smirk - it's nothing to smirk about!"

"Ah - c'mon - what is it with you lot?"

Demyx winced as Tyler hit him into the back of his shoulder, why did people have to do that when it obviously hurt enough as it was? He honestly wondered if people enjoyed causing him pain. Tyler simply shook his head, refusing to apologise for his actions. He actually had not meant to hit the youngster as hard as he did, but it had gotten his point across. He was oddly protective over Danni, he'd seen her grow from an infant into a little girl, and now he had seen her as a young woman - if Demyx thought for one second he could play her around, he'd be answering to a lot of people. Especially now that Zack was back…that was another thing; **_Zack_**. Factually speaking from his science-based beliefs, it wasn't possible. Simple as that. But he'd had to swallow his beliefs when faced with a certain black-haired SOLDIER. What about the group Demyx and the others had come from? Were any of those capable of changing their appearance? But then what about Aerith?

"Is it possible for any of the Organi-"

Demyx shook his head, already knowing what Tyler was going to ask. He had already considered that; Zexion was the only one he was aware of who would be anywhere near capable of utilizing the abilities necessary for passing an illusion like that. Larxene could use clones during battle, but only of herself. He himself could use water clones, but they definitely couldn't pass as actual people.

"No, I wasn't sure before but I am now. Angeal seems to trust him…"

Tyler nodded, he guessed as much. Though at least that was something to lean on. Angeal wouldn't trust someone unless he was sure. At times he could be a pain in the butt because of his ways and how he held some people at arms length, refusing to trust them fully. But at the heel of hunt, he held the man's opinion of someone in high regards because of that. The doctor stood as a buzzing told him his beeper had received a message. A second or two of staring down at the small screen and then Tyler turned on his heels, calling back to Demyx as he walked through a door.

"I'll be back in a few minutes."

He just nodded, still partially pissed off as his shoulder continued to ache rhythmically. At the moment in time, he was splitting the blame between Tyler and Xaldin - he was also blaming Xaldin for Danni getting hurt, he'd seen her watching them, he'd wanted to shout at her to never mind him, but a lance in his shoulder had been distracting him. Demyx sighed, looking out the window to his left, staring out idly at the sparkling stars upon their pitch hued backdrop. It was always the same. In every world he had ever been to. The same intricate patterns. The same clusters and constellations of Orion and all the rest. So if it always stayed the same, how could things change so quickly? Scrap that - how _**had**_ things changed so quickly?

What had he done so bad that Xemnas suddenly hated him to such an extent? Was it because of what Zexion had said - because he had simply stood up to him? If so, then how come it was just him? He could barely last long against the Superior, that had been proven two months ago - how was he supposed to protect Danni or the baby if Xemnas came here? He would have to stop him regardless though, he had to. Danni made him feel like he had a heart, she gave him something he had been without for so long.

She made him feel real - take her away and he honestly did not trust himself. He had surprised himself with Larxene, he hadn't been aware of what he'd been doing until she had left. That had frightened him somewhat, but it had been to protect someone he loved and he would do it all over again. He would go back to the Stronghold if it only meant that Danni and the baby would be safe from harm.

"She's pretty tired, but she's awake. I haven't told her, I'll leave that to you. Make her get some rest, please?"

Why was he suddenly nervous? What was the best way to tell someone they were pregnant? Was there even a good or easy way of breaking that kind of news to someone? Screw that - how did he tell her that her dead brother was sitting in a room at the end of the corridor? That his dead girlfriend was currently asleep in her old bedroom at Seventh Heaven? She would think he banged his head too hard against something during the fight or something. For only he knew better, he would be agreeing with that too. How did he tell her that his old boss would hurt her if he found out she was pregnant? And cue the guilt…

"I want to go home…I really don't like staying in these places…"

Nervousness was gone out the window, replaced by staggering relief. He smiled as he shook his head, sitting on the edge of her bed. He spent a minute or two trying to figure out how exactly he was going to approach the situation at hand. She looked like hell, bruises, scratches, cuts, the bags beneath her eyes.

"Danni, we need to talk…"

She didn't like those words, she didn't like his tone of voice - those kind of words never bode well in a relationship. Had she done something wrong? She didn't think she had, but she was tired and wasn't completely sure. His face was serious and he wasn't meeting her gaze.

"Tyler found out why your Mako levels were off…I love you, you know that."

"What happened - I don't like where this is going…"

Great - that little voice that had been prompting him all along had run off, leaving him on his own, with Danni looking hurt - why did she look hurt? He wasn't doing great at the whole explaining thing. He didn't mean to hurt her, the opposite actually. But the longer he was taking to get around to the main factor, the more she was getting hurt. Now he felt guilty.

"Danni, you're four weeks pregnant."

Her hands shot to her stomach out of reflex. She bit back a cry as she unintentionally hit her stitches. It hurt so much, she never thought something could pain her so bad, it burned and stung at the same time. How could there be a baby in there? How could it still be alive after Sephiroth's blade - how had the steel missed it? How after all the kicks and blows? She couldn't look after a baby though, she couldn't. She was only nineteen, trying to prevent Sephiroth from resurrecting his twisted idea of a mother.

And Demyx? His Superior was trying to kill him - they couldn't bring a baby into the middle of it all. Danni took a shaky breath, thoughts and questions still revolving and echoing in her head, her mind was racing, a baby? If her parents were alive they would be angry, but they would still help her look after it once they calmed down - but they weren't here anymore…what was she going to do?

"Hey, Danni…c'mere babe…things will be okay, I promise."

He moved up on her bed, sitting alongside her as his one of his legs rested on the bed and the other over the side. Wrapping one arm around her, he tucked her head under his chin, talking softly as she tears made tracks down her cheeks. He _**really**_ wasn't good at this whole explaining thing. But he meant what he'd said. Things would be okay, they'd work out - somehow, despite everything, they always did - so they would this time.

He'd do his best to make sure they did. He just didn't want her to be upset or hurt…_**they**_ would be okay, him, her and the baby. They were his responsibility now, and he would do all within his power to protect them. Life at the Organization had been a hell of a lot easier, that went without saying. He'd stayed firmly under the radar there, being sent on missions he no more wanted than the man in the moon, but he'd went, he'd fought, he'd been defeated. This was so different though, he was actually fighting to protect something this time.

Demyx glanced down quickly, noticing that Danni had fallen asleep in his arms. He lay back slightly, so as she wasn't in a sitting position, taking care not to move too fast in case he hurt her shoulders by accident. She needed some sleep, she was exhausted and sore, and had also just had a bombshell landed upon her already painful shoulders.

Zack could wait, he didn't want to be a jerk over it, but surely if the man had been made to wait for as long as he said he had because of the Ancients, a few hours would be nothing, right?

* * *

**_A/N: I'll try to get the next chapter up soon, if not tomorrow or the day after, then the weekend - I have a day exam in Engineering on Friday - gonna be stuck in a work room for six hours trying to make something they tell me to - fun :P Thanks for reading huns!_**


	29. Real

**_A/N: Yay, I got it up! I wrote the first part and a bit out in my A4 pad, then couldn't find it for a while, I seriously have the worst memory going. -_-_**

* * *

The first thing he noticed was the sound of rain falling onto an already wet surface, then the low mumbling and sounds of people going about their work on the different floors of the imposing building. He looked down as he registered the sound of someone else's breathing - she was still asleep - it was probably still relatively early in the morning, he was assuming such from the cold, grey light that was coming in through the window on the other side of the room.

It was odd for the building to be so quiet, especially in the medical wing, that was usually the most noisy of all the floors. He didn't even know what day it was, not that it mattered here. The company never shut down, even during normal holidays there was always some staff running the place, albeit a skeleton shift. Rufus himself was worse, the young man never took time off. Demyx had never personally had the pleasure - or displeasure - of meeting Rufus' father and predecessor, but by all accounts the man hadn't been all that much to look up to. He had heard of how Rufus had leaked information and led the company to believe one of the employees had been a mole and how he had helped during the Geostigma epidemic. As well as hearing the unconfirmed rumour that he was the anonymous donator behind Reeve's WRO.

Demyx yawned as he moved carefully, slowly taking his arm from around Danni's still sleeping frame, only to wince as an uncomfortable tingling told him his arm wanted to stay asleep. He groaned as memories of last night came flooding back with an almighty vengeance.

"Good morning sleeping beauty."

He glanced up, wiping solidified sleep from the corners of his eyes as he spotted Zack standing by the door. He was still there - here - wherever. That meant last night was real, all of it. None of that he remembered was a dream or figment of his imagination in that case. He hadn't meant to fall asleep, he had actually meant to go and tell Zack that Danni was asleep, but there wasn't all that much he could do about the matter now.

"Yeah, sorry."

Zack walked forward at a slow pace, taking care to do so quietly so as not to wake Danni. He had looked in a few times during the night, just to make sure she was okay. And though he would never openly admit it, he'd been checking up on the blond also. Angeal had played the guilt-trip on him. He hadn't wanted to be concerned for Demyx, but Angeal had done what he did best and turned it around on him. Pointing out that it had been Demyx to find Danni after he had a Gongaga, that it had been Demyx to kick up when Cid had wanted to leave her there, in the last few months it had been Demyx to protect and look out for her as best as he could. Then Angeal had left for the SOLDIER floor, leaving him to mull over things and get really guilty really quickly - typical Angeal.

"It's fine…did you tell her?"

"About the baby - yeah. About you - not really."

"Not really?"

"Not at all."

Zack shook his head, smiling despite himself. Well, at least he'd been honest.

Demyx stood, stilly trying to fully wake up, a dull tingling still present in his arm, he didn't have work today, but he still had some things to take care of. He'd talked to others on his phone before falling asleep, he'd been thinking a lot about what Zexion had said and though it had taken him a few hours and lots of thinking and consideration on his part, he had reached a decision on what to do regarding both Danni and the baby's safety.

"I'm gonna grab a shower and sort something out."

"Such as?"

"My business - don't take it the wrong way, I'm not being a dick - but that's my answer. I'd talk to Cloud if I were you - he's in for one hell of a shock when he gets up and sees Aerith."

Zack smirked at Demyx's words, it was true though. As horrible as it sounded, he really wanted to see Cloud's face when he was faced with Aerith. Actually, he'd love to see that. Cloud was his mate, no doubts, but again his sense of humour was kicking in when it shouldn't. He sighed as the door shut, signalling that Demyx had left. Today was going to be a long day and even that was a gross understatement. People had simply turned and gone home last night, he doubted very much that any of them believed that he was currently standing in his younger sister's room at ShinRa.

She still had the locket - he hadn't taken all that much notice of the locket while he'd been watching, it didn't help that he had gone between people trying to pass the time, from Cloud to Angeal, to even Kunsel and the rest of SOLDIER - but there it was on the table alongside her bed.

He had bought it for her one of her birthdays, he'd been walking around the slums on a day off with Aerith and had seen it on one of the accessory stalls, the stall owner had known Aerith and had offered to engrave the locket for free. He smiled as he picked up the small item of jewellery, turning it over in his hand, feeling the engraving of her name as he ran his thumb over the letters. All the things that had happened in the last few months, between what had befallen Gongaga and other fights, along with last night, it was a wonder she hadn't lost it. He glanced up as he noticed her stirring…

"Heard I'm going to be an uncle?"

Danni snapped her head around, all traces of drowsiness disappearing in an instant as she registered his voice. He was smiling at her…she was dreaming again - but then how come she was looking at him? Hadn't he told her it wasn't allowed the last time? And if it was a dream, then how come he was holding her locket? This was a joke, she didn't know how, but it had to be. There was no other explanation, she was still asleep, she would wake up soon and feel so stupid for believing a dream again.

"It's not a dream, or a joke Squirt - just me."

She didn't want to listen to his voice or even hear it. The more she did, the more real it sounded, it wasn't distant or shallow, lacking something that was impossible to label, but that something was what had been missing from his voice before, it was what made her know deep down inside it had only been a dream, but that something was there this time. She couldn't even look at him, the miniscule pattern of tiny woven treads in her bed linen suddenly came under intense scrutiny as she readjusted her gaze. She knew this dream would come to an end as soon as she began to allow her self to believe it was him.

Danni groaned as she felt hot tears prick the corners of her eyes, she didn't want to cry - it was a dream, she shouldn't be able to feel the formation of tears - she did the one thing that seemed to make sense to her at that moment in time despite the evident childishness of her actions; she drew her knees up and hid her face in them, covering her ears with her hands as she rocked slightly, willing the dream to end, mentally begging it to end before she lost her mind completely - too many things already cluttered her mind - was Denzel okay? Was Cloud okay? What about Demyx? And everyone else? Had SOLDIER decided upon action? Had the WRO or AVALANCHE? What was she going to do about the baby? What was she supposed to do? - if it were the Ancients sanctioning such dreams, then she hated them. It wasn't fair, it was hard enough trying to come to terms with the decimation of her family and past home, while trying to prevent some monster from coming back and wreaking more destruction, without having to be tormented in her sleep.

Yup - that had been more along the lines of a reaction he'd been expecting from the others. Though now he felt himself wishing she'd had the same reaction as they had last night. She hadn't even said a word, just looked at him. A broken look…Zack slowly placed her locket back upon the table as he stood quietly, not wanting to alarm her further. He found himself silently wishing she'd shouted or screamed at him, something. At least then he could deal with that, not this though. Not watching her in this pain. He blamed the Cetra for this, even though it was only indirectly their fault.

The SOLDIER kept his eyes upon his distressed sister as he sat upon the end of her bed, crossing his legs as he sat directly opposite her. She hadn't noticed, he found that somewhat odd, sure she had her ears covered, but surely she would have noticed the shift of the mattress under his weight? He continued to watch her as he spoke quietly, aware of how volatile her temper could be when she was scared.

"Danni…"

She didn't look up, he knew she had heard him however, he knew by how she had pushed her hands over her ears more and pulled her knees up further. He spoke her name a few more times before grabbing her ankles, preventing her from rocking anymore. She looked up immediately.

"**_Danni stop!_**"

Her eyes shone with distrust an unwillingness to believe as his shout made her looke up, meeting his mirroring gaze, she was too scared to believe, the moment she did, he would fade away or she would wake up and then she'd be left in pieces because of it again. Zack took his hands away from her ankles, slipping off his leather gloves as he placed a hand on each side of her frightened face, resting his forehead against hers as he spoke quietly once more.

"I'm real, I'm here - I'm not going away again - I promise."

"Zack…it's really you?"

He nodded slowly, smiling as he felt his own eyes well up somewhat - he wouldn't cry though, if Cloud or Kunsel found out they'd never leave him live it down - her voice was cracking, but she believed him this time. No lies this time, not secrets, no avoiding, no running, all cards were on the table this time, he held none of it against her and never would, ever.

"It's really me."

What she did next surprised him. Danni unfolded her own legs, springing forward as she wrapped her arms around his neck, crying despite how lighter her heart suddenly felt, he wasn't fading away and she wasn't waking up to an empty room - this was real. Zack laughed as she almost bowled him over, wrapping his arms around her as he looked over her shoulder, mentally kicking himself for the tear that was making it's way down his cheek - screw being a strong and silent man - he was soft and he knew it!

* * *

**_A/N: I'm pretty happy with how it turned out, any comments would be highly appreciated huns, thank you for reading!_**


	30. Leak

_**A/N: Next Chapter :P**_

* * *

"This is like adding fuel to the fire - making it worse."

He nodded, he was in complete agreement with Zexion. But they could pull out if they wanted to, it was their choice at the end of the day. But this was something he had to do regardless of whether or not it was the brightest of ideas. Xemnas already wanted to kill him, at least now he was giving the Superior a viable reason, albeit while trying to safeguard something dear to him.

"I know that, but I'm not willing to leave this to chance."

None of them argued with him or turned away. Instead they nodded and stayed, backing up his decision. None willing to allow him to go alone. That was one of the things he'd noticed since the five of them had split from the Organization, they were friends. He had said it before, while ranking within Organization XIII only one or two of them had been friends, but the majority of them had been enemies. Each vying to out do the other or expose the other as a failure, whereas now they were actually backing each other up and working as a team, making every individual member unwilling to see a member of their team fall.

"Been a while since we've been here…"

Roxas looked up as he spoke, taking in the view of the world's trademark Heart-shaped moon. Running into Saix would be a problem - actually that would be a problem at the best of times - but this specific world made it all that much worse. Sunlight never penetrated the continuous night here, instead the moon shone all hours, in turn constantly feeding the Luna Diviner's abilities.

"You're an idiot, but I'd probably do the same in your place."

* * *

_Get up, open the bar, get dressed, get the kids fed, wake Tifa up, survive the day, go back to bed_ - that seemed like a pretty good plan of action for the day ahead in his opinion. Cloud yawned as he began down the stairs, wincing every second step as a sharp pain made it's way up his leg. Last night had been a disaster. Plain and simply that. A disaster for him, a disaster for Danni, a disaster for Demyx - a disaster for every single person involved. The last time a fight had ended so badly, it had been three years ago, when Sephiroth had returned.

He had had some random dream last night though - Danni had been pregnant, not only that but Zack had been the person to tell Demyx, while Aerith had sat in the corner - if he ever told anyone about it, they would surely call the men in white suits to come and take him away, either that or simply laugh their asses off at him. By the laughing coming from the bar, Cloud guessed that Denzel and Marlene were already up.

He actually wanted to check on Denzel now that he thought of it - he hadn't gotten a chance to last night with all the confusion - which was being made worse by his dream weaving it's way into his memories of last night, causing him to second guess himself in regards to the actual happenings of the night before. Tifa had ordered both Marlene and Denzel to bed as soon as they had arrived back, citing that it had been late and they'd all needed some sleep and something else that he couldn't really remember.

"I think it'll be a boy…"

"What'll be a boy?"

Denzel glanced up from where he and Marlene had been debating the gender of the expected babies - so far he was guessing all boys while Marlene had guessed all girls apart from Danni's, and Aerith had just laughed at their antics - he watched as Cloud walked through the door separating the house from the bar, heading straight for the doors and unbolting them, opening up the bar.

The blond didn't bother to turn around as he awaited an answer and set about taking chairs and stools from atop tables and placing them back in their rightful positions for the day ahead. Denzel stood, making a shushing gesture towards Marlene as she began to giggle at Cloud's obliviousness. Okay, everyone was allowed to be a bit thick when it came to mornings, but this really took beating - he didn't remember - at all! The youngster bit back a laugh as he began to help; randomly placing some chairs back up the right way as he spoke, trying to keep the laughter from his voice.

"We were talking about what Danni's ba-"

Denzel trailed off as Cloud looked down, grabbing his chin and turning it to the side trying to gain a better view of the stitches on his cheek - why was it that amazing? Why was it that anyone who saw the injury either had to glean a better look or poke and prod him - did he look like a pin-cushion or something?

"Get off Dad!"

Cloud blinked, surprise almost knocking him from his feet - **_Dad_ **- Denzel had just called him Dad. The boy had been living with he and Tifa for going on five years at this stage, he still remembered the day he'd found him passed out near Aerith's church, in all that time he had never once referred to him as Dad, just Cloud. He had never expected him to ever see him as a Dad, Denzel had had his parents and family, they had died.

"Close your mouth Cloud…"

Her words had the opposite effect. A few seconds passed before he managed to look up, knowing immediately who's voice had spoken. He shook his head as she waved at him, Marlene sitting alongside her giggling as Denzel began to laugh. If they saw her, then that meant she was real, that meant he wasn't losing his mind, which meant that last night was real, what he thought had been a dream had actually been reality…oh god, this was going to be a long day.

"No, no, no…I'm going back to bed…"

* * *

"What about Mom and Dad?"

Zack sighed as he sat back a small bit on her bed, leaning his back against the end rail of her bed. He grimaced as something stuck into his back painfully, a second or two of grouping behind himself and he had it; a clipboard with all her details on it. He leafed through the notes and graphs as he spoke, not really paying attention to what he was flicking though. He had just wanted something to occupy himself.

"I don't know. We weren't allowed to pass, and we weren't allowed to go back, just stuck alone watching this place fall apart…every so often, Ifalna or another Cetra would come and say the same thing as to why we were stuck the way we were."

She was gone quiet again, maybe he'd said something wrong? Zack frowned as he thought over what he had said, he couldn't see anything wrong in his words. He guessed she was still confused, that and she had wanted to know how their parents were. Truth be told, he wanted to know to. He'd asked Ifalna after seeing Gongaga ruined, but she hadn't answered, nor had any of the rest. Though he didn't blame Ifalna, any of the rest and he would willingly place the blame on them, which wasn't exactly fair. But he was being biased, he blamed them for being made to watch Midgar fall, MeteorFall, Geostigma, Gongaga, he'd had to watch it all and hadn't been allowed to help or move on, just stuck there, of all people he reckoned he had the right to be pissed off at them.

"I told you we'd talk face to face, I promised you that - but that doesn't work if you don't talk Danni."

He was right. But what was she supposed to say? Small talk - yeah right - he was sitting there, talking and giving her a knowing look - that was enough for her, she didn't want to tempt faith. But he'd promised he wouldn't go away again, he kept his promises, always had. The only promise he had ever broken to her was the one he'd made before going to Nibelheim, he'd promised he'd come and visit as soon as he was done with the mission, that had never happened. But she knew now that it had been through no fault of his own.

"What happens now? Where do things go from here?"

That was a good question. Where did they go from here, Sephiroth and his three brothers had allies, allies that SOLDIER had never contended with before. They had also proven after last night that they were in-fact stronger than SOLDIER's best, so what did they do now? Lie down and die? That would be an easy option, many had shown themselves to be willing to do so already, some towns and villages had all but given up hope of surviving this time around - they were just a ray of sunshine to the rest. The one thing he had always noticed was how most people refused to give up, more precisely - the people of Edge - those who had seen themselves come so close to the end before, they didn't give up. As he spoke, he knew there were people out helping to repair the city centre, it had been weeks since Sephiroth and the Remnants had destroyed the meteor monument, but the scars and broken concrete and rubble were still around, laying as evidence to what had happened.

Zack yawned as he thought back over the last few weeks - the best thing about being capable of watching over this side of the life stream had been the ability to watch whoever he'd wanted. He was smart enough to see an advantage when it presented itself and grab it. Maybe Ifalna had known what would eventually be done regarding himself and Aerith, maybe that's why she had made sure to tell them where they could go - anywhere. In the last few weeks, Sephiroth had been relying upon his allies - Organization XIII - he had been spending a lot of time at their Stronghold, relying on their unfamiliar abilities to blind sight SOLDIER and the rest.

"If we attack head on, then we'll lose. If we can eliminate all of or a few of your boyfriend's old friends, then he hasn't got them to lean on, that's what he's been doing with the last few weeks. I say station SOLDIERs in major worlds, not for combat specifically, but to help the people in the worlds and show that SOLDIER is there and actually doing something."

Danni blinked as she looked up; that was a pretty good plan of action…how did he know to pick off the nobodies first though, that they were currently Sephiroth's backbone? If they could get some SOLDIERs stationed out further, mainly a few 3rd Classes under a 2nd, it would show their forces were up and operating efficiently, instead of all stationed in one area wondering what to do. They didn't have enough 1st Classes to place one at each station, they could check in alright, with the help of one of the ex-organization gang, but it would work.

"How d'you know about his reliance on Organization XIII?"

Zack smirked as he stood, placing her clipboard back on the end of her bed. He was no fool, he might have acted one at times, but he was far from one.

"Danni - we were made watch - we were never made watch one specific person though. Let's just say the Organization's Stronghold is one hell of a big place."

* * *

"You're a hard person to track down…"

Demyx smirked as the Chilly Academic spun on his heels, almost toppling back the set of three steps he had just climbed, one he spotted Demyx he turned to see if his intended escape route was still free, his face dropped however as four individuals blocked it. Their body language was passive, they weren't here to fight, they were just there for the sake of being there and to make sure he didn't get past. Demyx on the other hand was a different story. The water manipulating young man's body language was the complete opposite of the others. It was hostile and tensed.

"You are all rather smart or rather idiotic, depending on why you're here. Have you seen sense or simply wish to be killed?"

Demyx shook his head as he walked forward, speaking lowly. Aware that they were way out of their comfort zone and playing on the Organization's grounds. Things could go really wrong really quickly if they weren't careful. He couldn't leave this to chance, if he did, then he was putting Danni's welfare on the line in the long run, something he certainly was not prepared to do.

"Neither. You've become a liability, Vexen."

"You've come out of your shell IX. I saw Larxene's injuries. She had it coming."

Demyx rolled his eyes - Vexen was always the same - buying time, distracting people, trying to find a common subject between him and his adversary, such as Larxene. It was no secret that the Chilly Academic disliked her, there was also no blood lost between him or Zexion and Marluxia. If he was going to play on dislikes, then it wasn't a great basis, considering two were standing behind him.

"Cut the bull -"

"If you're here to prevent the Superior from finding out about your girlfriend and her current state, then you are too late."

Zexion smirked lightly as he leaned sideways, whispering into Marluxia's ear without taking his eyes from the scene unfolding before them. It was too entertaining to miss. Demyx had a dangerous temper, they all had to agree with that, especially since they'd left the Organization, the Melodious Nocturne had shown his carefree and somewhat comic role to be nothing more than a farce. The fact was more than evident from where he now stood; hands gripping the front of the scientists coat as he held him against the wall.

"I give it ten minutes - tops - before one of the rest arrive."

"I give it five."

Demyx hid nothing from his voice nor his eyes as hatred burned deep in his stomach - he knew something - he saw it in the his otherwise empty eyes. The air of smugness in the tiny smirk tugging at his lips, if he knew - then how? He only found out some hours ago, by now the SOLDIER force would know, possibly the Turks - no one outside of those who had been at ShinRa last night - if he knew, then they had a leak within their forces.

"What do you know?!"

Larxene hadn't been exaggerating, the wimp had grown a backbone. But the question was, had he always possessed one and chosen to hide it? He had never had many run ins with him before the five of them had defected, but he had always struck him as odd. Between him, Axel and Roxas, the three of them really did confuse him. They acted as if they had hearts most of the time, having said that, in the last few weeks prior to their desertion he had noticed a change in both Zexion and Marluxia's actions and their personalities.

"Everything."

"_Have you been a good boy? Oh, it sounds like you haven't."_

Zexion inclined his head as Marluxia elbowed him, ensuring he knew he had lost the bet. Five minutes not ten. He should have guessed he'd over timed, Xigbar was a nosy person at the best of times. Finding entertainment in eavesdropping on others' conversations. He wasn't all that much of a worry though, if push came to shove, they could get away pretty fast or one of them could take care of Xigbar, for the time however, they watched.

"Go grow up, Xigbar."

Xigbar shook his head, rolling his visible eye as he walked slowly towards the blond, who still had his back turned to him. Not bothering to turn around, which was rather stupid for anyone to do. He wasn't one to hate many things, but one thing he held a grudge against was traitors. He had always held that against Sora, seeing him as Roxas and seeing Roxas as a traitor.

"Tell me - when's the ickle kiddy due?"

They knew…that meant ShinRa had a leak somewhere. Demyx felt the bottom of his stomach drop as the sickening realization hit him. All the attacks on small towns and villages in the last few weeks, everything ShinRa were slowly accomplishing someone was quickly undoing. Several faces and names flashed across his mind, eventually landing upon one.

"Like hell I'll tell you!"

Xigbar froze mid-step and mid-jeer as something stopped him. What exactly he was unsure of, but something was stopping him. It felt weird, not a weight or a force, just grip. A grip that tugged somewhat, but didn't give. Vexen watched with interest despite his current situation, how Demyx had learned to utilize his ability that was astounding him. How the blond had even discovered that branch of his ability was even more surprising, even he wouldn't have thought about it that way. From where he stood from a logical approach to what he was witnessing, the young man had used his ability to manipulate water to actually control a body. If one considered that an average male's body consisted of 60% water, and that blood contained plasma, which was primarily water, it seemed an obvious advantage to someone who could utilize water.

"When did you-"

"Just now, but I want to try something else now."

Demyx smirked inwards as he directed his attention to the target at hand. He hadn't meant to do that to Xigbar, he'd just wanted him stop and shut up, Xigbar annoyed him to no ends, eavesdropping on conversations, making wise-cracks about things and being sarcastic - at least now he'd shut up. He wanted to see how far he could push this and he wanted to send a message - they knew, that much was clear - but the threat he had made to Larxene was still a viable one, and one he would act on without any hesitance.

Roxas stepped forward, taking the initiative to get involved but stopped as Axel put an arm out in front of him, barring his way. Axel figured if Demyx was suddenly discovering new lengths to his abilities, now would not be a great time to get involved - he didn't exactly wish to be mistaken for one of the others or caught in any cross-fire.

"It's horrible, huh? Knowing you can't stop it…"

Demyx glared into his cold jade eyes, watching them betray the panic his body tried to hide. The surprise his voice could not conjure. He knew that feeling only too well. The burning of lungs vying for oxygen, the acrid mouth, the fuzzy hearing, the only sound being the blood rushing in your ears. What happened after that, he didn't know, Xemnas had relented his grip thanks to others - but no one was stepping in this time, and he wasn't relenting. Not until his hands grasped air and black wisps dissipated into the air around him. He turned opening a portal behind him as he watched Xigbar, speaking lowly before walking into the portal, already having his sights set on someone else.

"One down, seven to go."

* * *

"Where's that guy that was giving Danni a hard time?"

Lazard looked up, surprised by the sudden arrival of several others in the room. He had been discussing running several missions with Genesis and Angeal. What surprised him more however was the attire of the young men. Sure, they were all off duty today, but then why were they still wearing the same clothes? Black coats, black boots, black combats…

"Why?"

Demyx turned to face the puzzled looking director and two SOLDIERs as he continued to walk backwards, towards the door that led to the SOLDIER floor. They could either tell him or not, either way he was still going to find the 3rd Class sooner or later. He had met him on one or two occasions, but only passing, such as stopping by to ask Danni something while she'd been in the same room as him. He'd never really taken to him, though that could have been due to his biased opinion of the young man after Danni had told him of their first introductions. Either way he hadn't trusted him, but hadn't distrusted him either. Going on that alone seemed like a pretty flimsy base to blame him for the leak, but there was just something in the back of his head telling him it was him. Why a SOLDIER, who had been in the force for years, through all that had gone wrong, would simply decide to betray his fealty and friends was beyond him - but then again, hadn't Sephiroth done the same? Actually…hadn't he done the same? No, he hadn't betrayed his friends, him and his friends had betrayed the others…Demyx blinked in surprise as he realised he had just made himself look at everything from a totally different point of view.

"Because you have a leak."

* * *

_**A/N: Thanks for reading huns!**_


	31. Reasons

_**A/N: Heya huns, this could be the last chapter for a little while, exams starting soon.**_

* * *

"Hold on a minute - let's make sure we have the right guy first."

Demyx paused as the door slid open behind him, wanting to hear Zexion's say on the matter. He was, or more so had been one of the senior members, it had actually surprised him somewhat upon realizing that Zexion was willing to defect with him and the others. He had been the last person he had expected to betray the Organization - Roxas had been a given to walk, Axel had been too unpredictable to fully trust, Marluxia had always played by his own rules, he himself had never exactly chosen a side - but Zexion had always backed Xemnas.

The Melodious Nocturne watched as Zexion stepped forward, a small smirk on his face as his mind developed a plan and several possible scenarios in a matter of second. If whomever he was on about was in fact the leak, then the only certain way to make sure was to catch him out and he knew exactly how to do so.

"How's this?"

Genesis watched in a stunned silence - though he would never willingly admit to doing so - as the nobody changed his appearance drastically. He knew the element of each individual Organization member, including the ones standing before him, though he had never really, though that much about what they could do specifically. He had always looked at their abilities as a whole, not the possible branches and manipulations.

* * *

"If Tyler walks into your room and you're not there, I'm dead."

Danni shook her head adamantly, wincing inwards as she walked alongside his taller frame. She didn't like the medical wing, obviously, she was there for a reason, she knew that, but it still didn't dissuade her unnatural hate for the place. She didn't hate those who worked there, definitely not, especially not Tyler, he was cool. He didn't treat her like a kid or molly coddle her, he said things straight and to the point - something she was extremely grateful of.

Tyler would give Zack a major lecture about knowing better and being responsible, despite the fact that she had been the one who had wanted to go walk abouts. Right now she saw the logic in staying in bed - everything hurt and she meant that in no exaggeration. Her shoulder continuously throbbed, mimicked in spite by several of her ribs, her lower stomach and back stung with each step , tugging against the three stitches that held each small wounds together.

"He won't kill you, he doesn't believe you're you enough to kill you yet."

"Smart-ass!"

"Dumb-ass."

"You pinched me."

Zack looked up as he recognised Cloud's voice. The blond was standing a few feet behind Danni, who in turn was standing a few feet behind him. He looked tired, though that was a given when one considered what time it had been when everyone had left last night. He looked confused also, but again that was a given. Though he was talking to him, which meant he knew he was real - he guessed Cloud had already been faced with Aerith this morning in the case.

"Yup."

Danni scrunched her brow, trying to figure out what exactly the two men were talking about. This was the first time she had seen them together and as far as she could see Zack hadn't been even close to Cloud, so unless it was something from way back when they'd both been at ShinRa. If that was the case, then Cloud was holding one hell of a grudge. Zack was smirking, which meant he shouldn't be.

"Why did you pinch him?"

"Coz he let you move in with Demyx."

She shook her head as he walked on ahead, smiling all the more to himself. Of all the childish things someone could have done and out of all the childish reasons to do something. She rolled her eyes as he continued to walk ahead and Cloud fell into pace with her, though that itself wasn't exactly a hard thing to do at that moment. She mentally scolded herself as she thought of the shock the blond must have gotten this morning.

"Get a surprise when you got up?"

"You have _**no**_ idea."

He hadn't meant to be funny, deadly serious in fact. He had not seen all that much humour in walking into the bar and being told to close his mouth by a dead Cetra come flower girl at that time. But when he thought about it now, he could see why others found it funny. Marlene and Denzel had certainly found it funny, along with the latter of which throwing him for a loop.

"Denzel surprised me more I think…"

Danni raised one of her eyebrows in a questioning manner, she didn't see what exactly Denzel could have said in order to stun Cloud more than Aerith. Sure, the kid liked pulling pranks and joking around - especially with Reno - but she didn't see what he could have done or accomplished in order to surprise Cloud to that extent.

"What did he do?"

"He called me Dad."

* * *

"I've told you everything I know, the girl's awake, that's all that's changed since."

"And you just made a big mistake."

Zexion did nothing to hide that smug smirk from his face as he allowed the illusion to fade. He relished in the horror growing within the 3rd Class' eyes as he watched the image of Xemnas fade back to reveal him. It had been a long time since he'd seen someone have that kind of reaction, and though he did not want to admit it - he liked it. The sense of winning, of knowing he had been that single step ahead of the other person, knowing that he had tricked them - he loved it.

"Found your leak, Lazard."

He stood back, allowing others to see and do whatever they wanted with Rick. He had done his part, now someone else could deal with the problem at hand. He had always hated getting his hands dirty when he could avoid it. Right now this guy really wasn't worth his time. If he lived, then Xemnas would surely dispose of him for being of no further use to the Organization, either way he didn't have much to look forward to after today.

"Why the hell would you betray everyone?!"

Demyx couldn't help but shout, knowing that this stupid, stupid idiot had been jeopardising everything. He had betrayed the Organization, but that was different. Since taking a job at ShinRa he had seen first hand the sacrifices people made in their daily lives in the hope of helping. He saw how the staff of ShinRa came through the door day after day, how AVALANCHE went between their lives and damage control. And then this idiot threatened to throw it all away.

"Like you're any different from me!"

He couldn't hold it back any longer. He hoped to whatever god watching that Rick's jaw ached as much as his knuckles - he and the others were allowed to mention their pasts - no one else. No one else had the right to do so as they simply did not know what had pushed them or what had been the factors of their decisions.

"You think that's the same - you haven't the slightest idea!"

Danni jumped unintentionally as someone was sent skidding across the floor before her, Cloud and Zack, accompanied by a rather angered shout. She blinked as she realised who the person had been - Rick - her mind quickly ran through possible reasons for why the young man could have got himself into trouble, sure, at times he let his mouth get the better of him, but he wasn't all that bad once you got to know him. They hadn't got off to the best start, but that was behind them now. The young woman back tracked rapidly as she spotted who had been responsible for the shout and Rick's skeet across the floor - Demyx. Why was he wearing the Organization coat again? He hadn't since cutting ties from Organization XIII weeks previous. Why was he fighting with a member of SOLDIER? A sickening sensation hit her almost as quick as the thought had - he wouldn't have gone back, would he? Definitely not…or would he? A pregnant girlfriend and getting beat up would not entice anybody to stick around, but he had promised.

"D-Demyx?"

He glanced sideways upon hearing her small voice, only then noticing the three individuals standing at the junction of where two corridors merged - what was she doing out of the medical wing? She shouldn't be here, she was hurting, he knew that, even if she wouldn't admit it. Tyler certainly wouldn't have left her out willingly, he probably didn't even know she was missing yet. Cloud wouldn't have allowed her either, so that left one person to blame - that didn't matter now though - that idiot was back on his feet.

"We wondered why Sephiroth wasn't outwardly attacking like before - he doesn't need to anymore - this back-stabbing bastard's been leaking information to Xemnas!"

Danni looked around as Demyx continued to vent his anger and frustration upon Rick, slamming the 3rd Class hard against the wall by means of a misleadingly innocent looking sphere of water. Was it true? She didn't want to believe him - why would Rick betray the force he had been so proud of? Everything SOLDIER had gone through - and Rick would willingly help their adversaries? Why though? There had to be a reason, someone wouldn't just turn like that - even Sephiroth himself had his own reasons for doing so.

People were watching now. All drawn like moths to a light by the commotion and shouting. People were always the same, not bothered in the usual, while having intense interest in anything that had nothing to do with them. None of them were stepping forward or helping however. SOLDIER had been betrayed before, they weren't about to protect or aid another traitor. But what about honour? This certainly was not honour.

"Demyx - **_stop_**!"

"Stay out of this."

Danni side-stepped, blocking off his path. She did the same again as he tried to step around her other side. He just rolled his eyes uncharacteristically and tried to pass her again, she stepped to the side again, barring him. She watched him warily, he'd never spoken to her like that before. He was extremely pissed off, that was pretty obvious, but this was wrong. A few seconds of silent staring and she looked away, deciding to instead pull rank on the situation, looking to several 2nd Classes who were standing near-by as Demyx attempted to pass her yet again.

"Back off already! He's under my charge. Get him to one of the holding cells, cut the connection between our terminal and other worlds, set up firewalls on all terminals and mainframes whether they're active or not."

"Do you not get it or something Danni?! He's been helping them - they know you're pregnant, Sephiroth knows - fuck it, Xemnas knows!"

Yeah, and now so did all the SOLDIER floor and several Turk recruits who had just stepped from the elevator - evidently haven't not yet mastered the differing numbers and functions of the buildings floors - of course she understood. But she refused to believe that Rick had done what Demyx said he had without a viable reason.

"I get it - but I want to hear why."

"No - you want to protect SOLDIER - always SOLDIER, and guess what? I'm not a part of it."

Maybe he shouldn't have said that…no he shouldn't have. He knew by the look in her eyes. Demyx mentally kicked himself in the butt for being a prick. Glares from Angeal, Kunsel and Zack told him he didn't have a leg to stand on. SOLDIER protected their own, he was a Turk, SOLDIER would close ranks to protect one of it's own - to protect Danni - regardless of his and her relationship. He couldn't justify or explain his words here. No matter what he said, SOLDIER would retain their opinion of him.

Demyx shook his head, stepping backwards at the same time as he opened a portal., deciding it best to go calm somewhere and think properly - he'd been acting on impulse since last night and hadn't exactly thought anything through or thought about anything extensively.

"Where're you -"

"Not sure."

Silence. Deafening silence. Why were they all staring at her? Why weren't they doing as she had ordered? Why were they all just standing around staring like idiots?! Yeah, she was pregnant - big deal - it was none of their business. None of what had just gone on was any of their concern. What right did any of them have to stand there and look at her? She didn't want to be here anymore, she wanted to go back to the solitude of the medical wing, she knew she'd said he didn't like it, but that was before.

"Get back to work."

Genesis bit his tongue hard as the different classes slowly returned to their duties. He watched Danni in silence as she blinked back tears, refusing to lose face in front of the lower ranks But what Demyx had said - albeit in the heat of the moment - had been true. And he wasn't too much of a hypocrite to admit that. He saw it day in and day out. The blond nobody put up with more shit than he was due, and all for being part of Organization XIII along with being involved with Danni in general. The lower ranks aspired to become 1st Classes, they expected the top ranking SOLDIERs to give their all to the force, to be at its beck and call - but Danni was nineteen, Demyx only twenty - how was that fair for either of them?

Was he the only person who actually bothered to take a neutral point of view? Probably. Zack was her brother, Cloud and Kunsel his friends, Angeal was her guardian…Demyx didn't stand a chance in defending himself or his words against them. But that was far from fair on the young man. The SOLDIER turned as he made a decision - no one else was going to play referee in this - so he would. He grabbed hold of Angeal's arm as his friend tried to walk away, he knew Angeal's mind-set. He kept his voice purposely low, not wanting any of the ever nosy people of ShinRa to overhear.

"Leave it go. The two of them need to fix this themselves and if they can't, better now than when there's a kid involved. You, Zack and whoever else have no right to say anything to either of them."

He knew by how the other SOLDIER snapped his arm away that he did not appreciate the words of advice. Whether he approved of it or not was irrelevant, he had heard it and would see sense in his words before the hour was through. By that time, Angeal would have collared Zack and told him to lay off the big-brother act. One down, one to go. Genesis sighed as he turned, throwing a quick glance to the group of black-coated individuals.

"Which one of you would consider yourself the least friendly with Demyx?"

* * *

_**A/N: Thanks for reading huns!**_


	32. Pasts

_**A/N: Heya huns, this is going ot be random, but: Finished School!!! Graduation tomorrow :P :P :P**_

* * *

Vexen was out of the picture, that eliminated one threat, but could also have given rise to another. Personally speaking, he doubted Xemnas liked him very much at this moment in time. Truthfully, he wasn't his own greatest fan either. He shouldn't have said what he had to Danni, he'd realised that the split second after he'd said it. Though by then it had already been too late, words were the one thing people could never take back, people may forgive but they never forgot.

His words had been of personal bias. Something he should have either forgotten about or discussed with Danni, not the entire SOLDIER floor, that had been childish and inconsiderate. He had said it with the intention of hurting her, he hated himself for that. She was a SOLDIER, she always had been. In reality without her connection to the force and ShinRa, they probably wouldn't be together now, he wouldn't have met her.

If they argued over job loyalties, then how were they supposed to cope with a baby? How was he supposed to be a responsible parent? He had just tracked down and eliminated a past superior for the simple reason of protecting what he held close. He had also lost his temper with Danni over a traitor - what if he lost his temper with the baby? He would never forgive himself if he did that.

He needed to find common ground with Zack firstly, they couldn't be enemies, not when it put Danni straight in the middle. And maybe Cloud understood why he was so uptight lately…a baby, an actual baby, one that was going to depend on him and Danni for everything. Walking away would be undoubtedly easier in the long run, but that was no guarantee that Xemnas would back off and leave her alone.

"Why do you always come back here?"

Marluxia looked around as he walked slowly towards the blond, his footsteps muffled slightly by the grass beneath his feet. He didn't particularly like this place, it was a little too weird for his liking - coming from a past member of Organization XIII, that was something major - the plant life was impressive here however, he had to admit that much. It was the world's inhabitants that freaked him out. To call them unusual would be a severe understatement, they were physical manifestations of oddness. For some reason or another, Demyx always seemed to revert back here if he wasn't on a mission.

"Dunno, I like this place."

"Figures…"

Demyx sighed as he glanced up, he really wasn't in the mood for a lecture, especially not from him. Not from anyone - why did people have to butt in all the time? Maybe if they kept their unwanted opinions to themselves to start with, he mightn't be sitting where he was in the situation he was in right now.

"If you're here to gloat about me being a jerk, then save your breath, I already know."

Marluxia frowned as he stopped, still several feet behind the tired-sounding blond. Why did he just simply assume he was here to add insult to injury? He wasn't. He was here to make sure he was okay - Genesis had followed Danni and he had tracked down Demyx.

"Actually, I was concerned about y…"

He trailed off as Demyx met his gaze with a knowing look, an eyebrow raised, questioning if he was actually going to state what the blonde knew wasn't fully true. They had never been the best of friends. Truthfully speaking, he had been an arrogant, big-headed asshole, he knew that now. But Marluxia had been making an effort to take his own head out of his ass since splitting from the Organization.

"Genesis made me - happy now?"

* * *

"If it ever comes down to a choice between him and SOLDIER, I will personally harm you if you choose SOLDIER, understand?"

He knew he sounded so hypocritical, but things changed and people had to change with them or risk being left behind for good. Going back a few years and his mind-set had been the pole-opposite, he would have persecuted someone for not sticking by SOLDIER. But things were different now. She was young, she and Demyx had their whole lives before them and were starting a family, albeit the latter being unintentional. Was a career really and honestly worth throwing all of that away? Was it worth throwing away happiness?

"You've changed you're tune, Genesis."

Genesis nodded his head slowly, fully accepting her observation of his character. He had changed his outlook and would now be the last person to deny that fact. He had learned the hard way that if you devoted yourself too much to the job itself, then the good things tended to slip away and speed past you without any notice until it was too late to catch them.

"No job is worth sacrificing your own needs or happiness. I mean that, Danni."

He meant that with every ounce of his being. He had stood by SOLDIER, he had ignored his own needs and feelings and now he was paying the price for it all. What did have to show for his loyalty to the force? Nothing. Nothing but the respect of others, something that feel drastically short of what he had walked away from. At the time it had been the right choice to make. But hindsight was an awful thing.

If he had stayed because of her, then it would have raised suspicion, by defecting with the others, he had knowingly cut all ties from her. All responsibility from her. But he had done so only to protect her. Either way, not a day had gone by in the last six years when he hadn't regretted his decision. He wasn't about to allow someone else to make the exact same mistake he had; give up their lives for SOLDIER. SOLDIER would remain, it always had, the fact that it was operating again now stood testament to that fact. But regret would also remain if given birth, love wouldn't though. Not unless you grabbed it and fought for it.

"Take this advice from someone who knows - don't allow someone you care about to slip away - it will haunt you every step of the way afterwards."

* * *

"So, how's the girlfriend, yo?"

Axel rolled his eyes, knowing instantly who's voice that was. But he'd done so in good nature. Something he certainly hadn't done upon first arriving in Edge. To say he and Reno hadn't been on good terms would have been a gross understatement. He had hated him, or at least had pretended to have. He had refused point blank to be civil towards the Turk, snipping and insulting with every chance that had presented itself, trying his best to hurt the older red-head.

But that had been childish, he realised that now. Sometimes things just happened the way they did, regardless of who wanted the change and who opposed it. Reno was his older brother, five years separated them in age. He had always looked up to him despite their mother's complaining; she had always compared Reno to his father, he and Reno had different biological fathers - neither of which had stuck around to support their mother - she had never been one to hang onto a guy for more than a few weeks, months at the most. And when she did, it was always the same. He'd hit her or hurt her somehow, while he and Reno got the brunt of it all while their mother had tried to defend the man's actions. You don't defend someone who harms you.

But she always did, it didn't matter how many times her kids had gotten hurt or caught in the crossfire, she would always go back and defend whoever she was with at the time. Axel guessed that was why Reno had spent most of his time out of their house, wandering the slums or getting into trouble, anything was better than home. It had all changed when Reno was seventeen or eighteen though, whatever guy their Mom had been with started an argument with the older teen, Reno had said something smart in response and the guy had hit him, what neither their mother nor the man had expected was for the unruly teenager to hit back. Then he had just upped and left, ignoring any promises he had made to his younger brother about never leaving him alone in that house.

The last thing Axel remembered was screaming, an uncontrollable sense of panic along with the sickening screech of metal against metal…then waking up in The World That Never Was. He had hated Reno for what had happened to Sector 7, despised him to his core. But he had realised that by holding onto hate and anger, he was only preventing himself from moving on.

"She's fine…can I ask a random question?"

"Go for it."

"Why'd you just up and leave like that?"

Reno felt his smirk drop somewhat as he registered the question. Random, he hadn't been joking. He didn't like thinking about let along talking about that part of is past, actually he didn't like thinking about the past full-stop. What did it achieve? Nothing, all it did was make you think about how many other options you had had, and how much more different your life could have turned out if you'd chosen any of the other paths, but no one could ever go back and rectify their wrongs or mistakes. So then why bother even thinking about them?

"Does it really matter?"

"To me, yeah, it does."

The uneasy silence that followed the nobody's words quickly informed the Turk that he wasn't about to drop the subject. He really didn't see a point in the question, what was done was done. He didn't see much of a point in it, but yet he still didn't want to answer the question truthfully. It had boiled down to a pretty simple decision at the time - leave or end up killing someone - and that someone hadn't been the man who'd hit him. No, it would have been his mother. He hated that woman with all he had, he still did. She hadn't been fit to call herself a mother. He had lost count of how many times he had come home and found her passed out and the place in a mess.

"She never cared, yo. Never once. You remember that neighbour we used to have - Mrs. Westrna?"

Axel nodded slowly, not really seeing where this was going. He remembered the woman however, she had lived across the hall from them, she had been an old enough widower, her son had been killed years previous also. He and Reno used to go over to her apartment when their Mom was either passed out or too stoned to look after them

"Yeah…"

"She's still around, she lives on the outskirts of Edge…I remember one time yo, you were only like two or tree, I came home from wherever, you sitting in your cot screaming the place down, Mom wasn't there. She'd left that morning, left you on your own. I went across the hall to Mrs. Westrna, she came over and got you out of the cot - I was only seven or eight so I wasn't tall enough - she fed us and let us sleep at hers, then Mom appeared at her door later that night and tore strips off the woman, all because she had looked after us for a little while. She never cared Lae, ever. If I didn't leave when I did, then I was going to kill her. The only reason I hit back that day was the guy had went to hit you - I was fucked up as it was - you were only twelve or thirteen and you hadn't done anything wrong."

He had got his answer at least. He didn't remember any stuff like that. Just Reno and their Mom arguing a lot as he got older and then the men getting involved. He had never got hit though, he'd gotten yelled at alright, but he'd never gotten any worse than that. He'd watched Reno get worse though, he seen his older brother pushed, rammed, thrown down, hit, kicked, beat up…but he'd always stood back up again, rarely saying anything, just staring intensely at whoever had knocked him from his feet. Axel stood as he realised how things had really taken a sentimental turn for the worse, they were brothers, but neither did the whole lovey-dovey stuff all to well.

"I don't go by that name anymore - it's Axel."

* * *

"How come he won't leave us talk to her, I'm her brother and you were her guardian - you'd think that would entitle us to."

Angeal shook his head as Zack continued to talk to himself. He'd thought about what Genesis had said, and he was right. If he or Zack got involved, it would only make matters more complicated. Danni was old enough to work through her own problems, as was Demyx. She wasn't a kid anymore. And truth be told, he and Zack would have a pretty biased opinion of the matter.

"And that is exactly why we're not going to. How would you feel if you and Aerith had a problem and Danni kept sticking her nose in, telling you how Aerith was wrong and that you deserve better?"

Zack opened his mouth to respond, but quickly closed it again as he thought better of the situation - that would be odd, really and extremely odd. And awkward. He doubted Danni would do that if the situation ever arose, but he understood Angeal's point on the matter. It wouldn't help one bit and would probably make him more confused about it. He smirked as a quick thought flashed across his mind - Danni would be telling him he deserved better while his Mom would be berating him for not being married yet…that wasn't going to happen though, not the latter anyhow. Zack shook his head, ridding himself of the down-hearted thought as he looked back up, deciding to change the subject and focus on something that was confusing him.

"Why's he speaking to her then? No offence or anything, but Genesis doesn't strike me as a relationship-type guy."

That's what he thought, along with innumerable others. Why? Because that was all he had ever wanted to appear as. But Angeal knew better about is friend's life. Genesis may have appeared the enigmatic 1st Class, stuck by SOLDIER regardless of events. But that only meant the man had succeeded in keeping is personal life a secret.

* * *

_**A/N: Thanks for reading! (have to go find my bank-card now:P)**_


	33. Apology

**_A/N: Hi huns! Sorry this took so long to update, I kinda didn't know where to go from here, but I think I'm back on track now. Anyhu, this is a short-ish chapter, just kinda filler to move on from the last chapter and stuff._**

* * *

It didn't take a genius to figure out that he had been speaking of someone and not something. He may not have mentioned any person or name, but Danni knew from the tone of his voice that the subject of his knowledge had been a person.

Associating a person with the SOLDIER was a somewhat strange thought; Genesis had never shared any personal details with others apart from growing up with Angeal in Banora. So imaging him with anyone else was an alien thought. Go back a few weeks and she probably would not have noticed the look in his eyes when he had spoken, but she had this time and his mind on someone else.

"Who was she?"

Genesis glanced up, immediately kicking himself mentally for walking into that question. That was something he had noticed about Danni, she tended to make someone unguarded when they spoke around her. Whether that was a good or bad thing depended on what subject they were talking about at the moment. Right now, it was a bad thing in his opinion. This was one topic her certainly had not wished to drag back up. However, she was holding his gaze; he didn't think she was going to let this slide.

She hardly remembered Alex. Maybe she did. But it had been years since then, it had been years since he had seen her even. Danni would have only seen her several times in the past, on the few occasions SOLDIER had crossed Turk missions. It had come down to a choice between her and whatever future they could have had and SOLDIER. He had chosen the latter.

"Alex Yamamoto. No offence meant, but this isn't up for discussion."

Danni nodded slowly, point taken. She would save that for later and ask Angeal instead. Anything Genesis managed to keep apart from SOLDIER, Angeal generally knew of. It didn't look like Genesis would speak much on it, and as nosy as she knew she seemed; curiosity had taken its hold and she now wanted to know. It could wait though; she did not feel all that much up to chatting. She just wanted to go back to sleep, maybe things would be better when she woke up, probably not but one could always hope.

She didn't bother to look up as footsteps moved away from her bed, announcing the SOLDIER's evident exit, emphasized by the soft thud of the door closing. The building was starting to wake up now, more noises, chattering, laughing, and even several curses. The nineteen year old yawned slightly as she pulled her bed sheet up around her shoulders and closed her eyes, allowing sleep to take her.

* * *

"So you're just gonna sit here and mope for a while?

"Pretty much…"

Marluxia rolled his eyes as he turned away from Demyx, stupid question and typical answer. He wasn't exactly an expert on the subject, hell he reckoned he was the last person who should have been stuck with this job. Surely, Roxas or Axel - even Zexion - would have been more suited for talking to the blond, anyone but him.

They were nobodies, by right and fundamental basis; none of them should feel anything. Though Axel and Roxas had always stumped the Superior somewhat, the two nobodies had always expressed more emotions than the rest of the Organization, Roxas had always been suspected of differing from the others due to his other being the Keyblade's chosen one, but Axel on the other hand had not. Truthfully, he had been one of the hardest people in the Organization to read, jumping between loyalties and putting his personal interests and friendships before the Organization's goals.

But maybe Xemnas had been wrong about nobodies' fundamentals? More so about their lack of hearts. Personally speaking he had believed that nobodies no longer possessed hearts, but lately he had been second-guessing himself. If they did in fact possess no hearts, then how did that explain Roxas and Naminé? Axel and Sandra, or Danni and Demyx? All three of them had seemed to develop feelings, but if factually, speaking that wasn't possible.

When a person's heart gave way to darkness it became a Heartless, he knew that. But was it possible that the shell left behind - the shell that became nobodies - retained a shadow of their former heart? They possessed shadows of their former selves, shadows of their former personalities and shadows of their former memories, so why wasn't it possible for them to retain a shadow of their former hearts? That made sense in his head, if they retained shadows of their former hearts, then it explained Roxas, Axel and Demyx - their shadows had evolved. He knew he would never admit it to any of the others, but that thought gave him some comfort; maybe he could find someone like they had?

"You don't know how good you've got it, grow up and realise that before it's gone. I'm bored of this now."

Demyx turned in time to see the last of Marluxia's portal dissipate into the air. Great pep talk that proved to be; now he was just feeling worse about everything. He shouldn't have said that to Danni, if he had wanted to discuss something then he should have acted like an adult about it all and did so in private, instead of acting like a teenager and yelling out in front of everyone.

He should go back, talk to Danni, then deal with whatever anyone else had to say. He also didn't like the fact of being in a world on his own right now, he didn't care how cowardly it may seem - he had just managed to dig his own grave with what he had done to Vexen on top of the incident with Larxene. He was in no doubt of Xemnas' intent on putting him in that grave.

* * *

Tighter, tighter, tighter still...Danni cringed as it began to border on painful, but then it was gone. She didn't open her eyes, already knowing what was going on; Tyler was checking her blood pressure with that evil thing, she had always hated it, did now and probably always would. An evil inflatable tube surround by what was supposed to be a cushioned strap, designed to constrict blood flow in an artery to the extent of momentarily stopping it; providing a pressure reading. He had always done so whilst trying not to wake her up. He had always done that, trying his best not to disturb her, it had never worked though. He had always woken her when she was younger though she had pretended she'd been asleep, if only not to make the doctor guilty.

Danni sighed as she shifted, still not opening her eyes as she tried to get comfortable. Zack had been in a few times, she had pretended to be asleep though, the same when Angeal had checked in. She knew they had the right intentions, but with all due respect, she really didn't feel like speaking to any of them, not now anyhow. Maybe tomorrow or later.

Demyx looked around as he stepped from the portal, having ventured a guess that Danni would have returned to her room, and also hoping no one else had decided to visit. All due respect to whoever deserved it, but she was supposed to be resting and he personally didn't want to walk out of a portal and into the middle of something. That would have been awkward and possibly dangerous depending on who could have been there.

She was asleep. He was not sure why, but that surprised him. Then again, he had lost track of time after he had left the SOLDIER floor; he didn't have a watch, he had at one stage, but Larxene had broke it deliberately. Figures, she was a shallow person who found amusement in anything that based on hurting others. A small smile flitted across his lips as he thought of their last encounter; she only got what had been coming to her. She would probably pop back up again in the near future, with a pissed of humour to add an extra edge to her usual sadistic approach to situations.

That was the rehearsed apology he had been reciting repeatedly in his head gone out the window. Apologies tended to work better when the receiver was awake to start with, and even at that it could be risky business depending on what way the person took the apology…oh god things had been so much less complicated in the Organization.

Demyx groaned as he shook his head; screw the Organization, they messed things up, made life harder, destroyed other lives, strove only to accomplish their own goals regardless of how many lives and hearts were destroyed in the process - and they were the reason he was in this situation…well, not really, not technically, but they could have the blame anyhow.

He shook his head again, this time barring any thoughts of the Organization from his head. This was not going to be made all about them again. This was about a mistake he had made and now he was going to fix it. He did not need to keep looking back to how things had been whilst being simply The Melodious Nocturne; he knew how things had been, easy and short-lived. This whole thing was without doubt harder, but at least it had a chance at lasting.

Demyx remained silent as he lay down behind her sleeping frame, wrapping one arm around her waist as he rested his head on her shoulder. Taking care not to wake her or aggravate her injured shoulders or small stitched wounds as he whispered quietly into her ear.

"I can be an idiot, I can be a moron…I don't do it intentionally. I love you, that won't ever change. I'm sorry, babe - forgive an idiot?"

* * *

_**A/N: Another note, for anyone following my fic "Something To Fight For", yes - Alex is the same character that's Christi's Mum. I am thinking of including her in this just to see how her character would be in a different role. Anyhu - thanks for reading huns!**_


	34. Deal?

_**A/N: Hallooo huns! Good news - I'm free at last! I had my last exam yesterday, I am now free until the end of August! :P**_

* * *

He didn't care how much time passed; he would never become accustomed to seeing Zack and Aerith in Seventh Heaven. The killing part was that Zack also knew that. And him being him, found that an endless source of entertainment. Purposely dropping by at random times, just to see how he would react. Cloud shook his head as he bent down to pick up some pint glasses from the low shelves of the bar, in the last few weeks, he had been spending more and more time working in the bar as opposed to running deliveries, but it couldn't be helped; both Tifa and Yuffie's bumps were only getting larger and he personally did not how much time the two of them spent on their feet working.

Three weeks had elapsed since the chaos of their last encounter with Sephiroth. He still didn't understand how three weeks had passed by so quickly, let alone without anymore fights. Though he was somewhat thankful for whatever luck or fluke had given them three weeks of peace. If Sephiroth had decided to take up blows with them again in the past few weeks, then he wouldn't be on this side of the lifestream now, him or most of the others.

That had been, without any doubt, the worst outcome they had ever met in fight with the last three years. Danni had spent two out of three past weeks in ShinRa's medical wing, though much to her chagrin. Tyler had refused to even entertain the idea of her going home sooner, Angeal hadn't been all that much better, but any hope she had had of escaping the medical wing any sooner had died a horrible death once Demyx and Zack had joined in with the argument. Even though she was home now, Tyler had already ensured she wasn't allowed back to work yet, going behind her back to both Rufus and Lazard.

Denzel now bore a semi-healed mark along his right cheek, it had healed enough to remove the stitches and dressing, but he would definitely be left with a scar. Denzel was full of surprises lately, helping out more around the house, constantly querying Zack and Kunsel about SOLDIER, though that worried him somewhat.

He remembered when he'd been a kid and had taken an interest in SOLDIER, though it wasn't that he thought Denzel wasn't capable of making the cut, the boy had proven his worth; he had survived Meteor Fall, had lived on his own in the slums for a while, had fought Geostigma without once complaining despite the agony he must have been in, fought off Shadow Creepers, and now bore evidence of his last encounter with the beasts, if anyone was suitable for SOLDIERs' criteria, it was , he was personally biased, he didn't want Denzel to have to go down the same road as him, but it wasn't his decision to make in the end, it was Denzel's. He knew watching the boy what his dreams were, and when the time came he wouldn't stand in his way, Tifa probably would, but she'd come around to it eventually.

Maybe he was wrong about Denzel's intentions, with any luck he was. But just in case, at least he knew where he stood in regards to it.

"Wow, when did you start thinking so much?"

"Wha – oww!"

Zack grimaced as he watched the blond reel from an unmerciful blow, compliments of the bar tap. He wanted so badly to laugh, it was taking most of his self control just to keep a straight face…that had looked sore, he should show some compassion and ask if he was alright or something. Should being the operative word; if he opened his mouth laughter would emerge instead of words, so it was better to just stand and try and keep a straight face.

Danni hid a smirk as she watched Cloud stare spitefully at both the bar tap and her brother, not sure which one he should blame for his collision. She'd done that before, twice actually, it hurt like hell! The young woman inclined her head as she spotted Angeal, an idea immediately springing to mind.

Genesis may have forgotten his words three weeks ago, but she certainly hadn't. She hated admitting it, but curiosity usually got the better of her when she knew there was something evading her knowledge. The only people, more specifically women, she could remember seeing a lot of when she'd been on the SOLDIER floor when younger, were some interns, technicians and Turks. So who was Alex?

Another quick glance and she had made up her mind. Demyx was talking to Roxas; he wouldn't notice her slipping away for a few minutes. Though that wasn't a certainty, he had been extremely attentative lately, not that she was complaining or anything, it was actually rather comforting. But the more attention he gave to her, the more attention Zack gave to him…no real malice lay between the two males, it was just the nature of their relationship; brother and boyfriend, they would always annoy each other, it was a law of nature.

"Alex Yamamoto."

Angeal looked up immediately, finding himself staring into curious amethyst eyes. Years had passed since he had heard that name, years had also passed since he had seen its' owner. Angeal furrowed his eyebrows as he tried to figure out where Danni had heard the woman's name; he hadn't mentioned it and to the best of his knowledge, he didn't think Genesis had. She had a knack of finding out about things that had nothing to do with her, but this one kinda stumped him.

"Who t-"

"Genesis."

That made less sense in his head. Genesis made a point of not speaking about her; he hadn't done so since the day SOLDIER had defected. So would he now? He personally didn't have a problem with that, but just wished Genesis would have the decency to fix things after so long. That still didn't explain why the usually enigmatic SOLDIER had mentioned Alex to Danni. That really didn't make sense to him; Genesis always refrained from mentioning anything personal.

"Why did h-"

"It was after me and Demyx fought, he told me if it came down to a choice between him or SOLDIER, he would personally hurt me if I picked SOLDIER."

She needed to stop cutting him short. But she had guessed his question right. He personally still did not see why two young adults having a lovers' tiff would warrant Genesis mentioning Alex. He hardly ever mentioned her to him, which was a shame in his opinion. The two had been good together but Genesis being Genesis had turned to SOLDIER instead of his own personal life when the choice had arrived, he hadn't even told Alex why he was leaving. As long as he lived, Angeal would never stand by his friend's decision on that certain area.

Angeal shrugged his shoulders, knowing Genesis would not appreciate he and Danni discussing what had been made something of the past. But Danni wasn't looking away, and neither was he. Maybe it wasn't as much a part of the past as it seemed? What if faith played a role in mysteriously getting them face to face again? Of course with the intention of closure for the female in mind, but whatever transpired after that would be out of their hands, right?

She wanted the whole back-story and details, he knew that. But was it wrong that he wanted something in return for the information? Probably, but who was to know? Angeal smirked as he made a decision, turning fully to face the eager young woman as he spoke.

"Make you a deal; Alex used to be a Turk, as far as I know she left a few years ago, shortly after SOLDIER defected - you find her present address and I'll give you all the details you want - deal?"

She hadn't expected that…how was she supposed to track down the address of someone she knew nothing about? More so, the address of a past Turk, that was a stupid requirement, she was a SOLDIER. And even if she wasn't on sick leave she definitely wouldn't be able to get into the Turks' databanks, they were harder to hack into than the SOLDIER ones; only qualified Turks had access to the databanks. Turks stuck together and covered each other's backs, as did SOLDIERs, the rookies weren't even permitted access to the databanks.

Danni groaned as she began mentally running through all the fully qualified Turks she could possibly ask; Tseng was a definite no-no, he was their current leader and would do anything within his power to protect his Turks, Elena was another no-go area, Tseng's wife; if he said no then she probably would too. Rude, Rude could be a possibility if she ran out of all others but something told her tall, silent and shaded wouldn't be all that helpful either. Reno would probably just laugh at her. Demyx would…Demyx.

Danni hid her face in her palm as she felt the urge to kick herself, running through all of the Turks, and her boyfriend and his mates were qualified…_duh_ would probably be the most suitable thing to say right now. She smirked as stood back up, nodding her head in agreement to Angeal's deal before turning around and setting her sights on her next victim.

"Demyx – c'mere to me hunnie…"

He knew that singsong voice and that sickly sweet tone…the best option would be to run or open a portal, but then Zack would probably trip him on his way. And now she had that smile on her face, the one that hid her true intentions - she wanted something, or wanted him to do something. The only problem being, nine times out of ten the _something _ended up back firing on him or kicking him in the butt...Demyx shook his head as he put his hands over his ears, not willing to listen to her mocked innocence, as he looked for the nearest escape route.

"Nu-uh Danni – whatever you want I don't have it and whatever you want me to do, I either can't do it or I'm not doing it!"

* * *

_**A/N: Thanks for reading! Btw, I've got a massive amount of fave alerts and story alerts for this lately - thank you everyone! :P**_


	35. Understanding

_**A/N: Heya huns - sorry this took so long to update, kinda got stuck for a little while, but got past that and got a little finger happy on the keyboard ^__^**_

* * *

"You owe me, Jinx."

Danni stuck her tongue out as she turned in time to watch Demyx step out from a portal, having already recognised his voice. A smile lit up her features as her eyes shot the A4 sized brown envelope her boyfriend dropped onto the table in front of her; a week of none stop nagging had gently _persuaded_ the blond to find Alex Yamamoto's address. Which hadn't actually been as bad as she'd thought it would be. She had expected it to take longer than just a week considering Demyx had spent the first few days after her initial question walking around the apartment with his fingers permanently planted in his ears.

She was in an odd mood, probably due to spending too much time with Yuffie lately. That woman was crazy and even that was an understatement. The ninja was only a few years older than her and although they had become friends since she had moved in with Cloud and Tifa, it was only now that Danni was becoming close with the young woman, with her still being on sick leave and Yuffie on early maternity from the WRO – well, at least that was Reeve's reasoning – personally speaking she reckoned a hormonal kleptomaniac wasn't all that fun to work with, especially when everyone who worked with her was forced to walk on egg shells in fear of upsetting or angering the young woman.

"Pshhh! You got me pregnant, if anything, **_you_** owe me…"

Demyx ground to a halt mid step as he glanced down to where she sat in one of the cushioned side seats of the bar, her legs curled up beneath her as she gave him a small smile; showing she was only teasing. That was fine, that meant he could tease back. Though he was outnumbered, three to one; Elena was still at work, she was trying to hold out at work for as long as she could before taking maternity leave, ensuring a longer break after the baby was born. Tifa was still as much time as always in the bar while Yuffie just kinda floated around.

"Takes two people to get those results."

Demyx ducked as countless beer mats were thrown at him, none of which managed to hit their target. He found that kinda ironic, three of them were throwing beer mats at him and neither one had managed to hit him, that was pretty embarrassing even. The young man grinned as the barrage finally ended and he straightened up, deciding to do what he'd been sent back to the bar to do first.

Rick was still in one of the holding cells and that was the problem. ShinRa didn't exactly take pride or enjoyment in accommodating someone who had knowingly betrayed them; particularly those in SOLDIER. If they actually released him from the confines of his cell and cut ties with him, then Xemnas or one of the others would surely kill him. But they no longer trusted him, so he was of no use to the company. He was due to be transferred to the WRO base in the next few days, but to do so; Danni's permission was required due to her being one of the 1st Classes above him.

"Serious note first – Rick Matthews."

Danni allowed the smile to drop from her face at record speed. What about him? At the time, she had said she'd wished to know why he had chosen to take the path he had, but in the few weeks that had passed since the drama on the SOLDIER floor she had over looked it. She may have left SOLDIER when she was younger and recently returned to its' folds, but never once had she ever considered double crossing them. SOLDIER wasn't just a job, it was a way of life, if you were in it, then you stuck by it regardless of retirement or MIA status, you never betrayed the force; not because of fear though, but pride. It was like a family; you didn't sell out your brother, right?

She didn't really know how to feel about Rick, he had wilfully jeopardized whatever little advantage they had held over Sephiroth and the Organization. But she couldn't honestly say she hated him, he was only a few years older than her, and he must have had his own reasons for doing what he had. Everyone had their reasons for their decisions, regardless of whether the decision was viewed as right or wrong.

"What about him?"

Personally speaking, Demyx hated the SOLDIER. That may be hypocritical of him, but he didn't really care. He knew he had done the same, as had the rest of the gang, but at least they had done so for the right reasons and the right side. They had knowingly betrayed the Organization by leaking information and helping out ShinRa and AVALANCHE. But it was different – Rick was doing it for the wrong side – right?

Great, now he didn't know anymore. The more he thought about it, the more complicated it seemed to get. He really wished he could look at it from a singular view, but he couldn't. Having been on both sides of the fence had been an advantage before, but now it was just confusing him. The guy shouldn't have leaked, he was a SOLDIER; they weren't supposed to stab their ranks in the back. Demyx groaned as he found himself wanting to know why Rick had done what he had done, he wanted to understand him.

"The President isn't particularly happy with accommodating someone who's acted as a leak within the company. He's due to be transferred to The WRO's base in the next few days; Angeal and Genesis have already signed off on the situation but your permission or comments are also required due to you being one of the 1st Class over him."

Danni blinked as she sat back into her seat, partially taken aback by her boyfriend's professional manner along with what he had just said; he was due to be transferred to a holding cell at the WRO base in the next few days. That wasn't good. Whatever about staying at ShinRa, SOLDIER would never eliminate on of their own while he remained in their ranks – with the exception of Sephiroth – but if Rick was being moved then that slight protection was off the table. If he was released from confinement – something she seriously doubted would happen – then Xemnas or Sephiroth would kill him if they knew he was out, if he stayed at ShinRa he was a prisoner but if he was moved to the WRO's base then he would probably wind up dead too.

Angeal and Genesis had already washed their hands clean of him and she had to do the same? This SOLDIER stuff was harder than she remembered. She understood their opinions; they had already been betrayed by a SOLDIER before, so therefore weren't all that willing to hear the reasons behind another doing the same. But now she wanted to know, even just to satisfy her own curiosity.

"That's not fair, you know what's gonna happen him, whatever little protection he has here will be gone."

Demyx nodded, yeah, he knew that. But it wasn't his decision. Regardless of how much he wanted to hate the man, he knew things had to be more complicated than they appeared. That was something he had learned since splitting from the Organization and moving to Edge, nothing here just as simple as black and white, right and wrong, there was always something else; a reason, a different point of view – but something. He knew Danni wouldn't agree to sign off without some kind of closure on why the SOLDIER had acted as a leak.

He'd already thought it through. After his excursion to the Stronghold and how that had ended four weeks ago, he had taken to thinking things through more. Looking at how something could end and what could possibly go wrong along the way. It was pretty depressing though, instead of just going through with something regardless, he was now faced with an endless list of ifs and buts.

The cells were on the second lowest level of the building, above only an underground storage area. The cells took up roughly half of the floor, the rest of the floor stored back up generators for the city. Two Turks or SOLDIERs usually stayed stationed outside the entrance to that half of the floor, ensuring no unauthorised individuals entered. The outside was also monitored by the company's in-building cameras. A portal would bypass all of those and would provide an unnoticeable exit too, if need be.

Demyx shrugged as he took several steps backwards, opening a portal as he raised an eyebrow questioningly.

* * *

She had never been down here, not even in the old building in Midgar. Angeal had never allowed her to go near the holding cells or go to the lab, though the latter had not always been fully up to him, Hojo had usually gone over his and Lazard's head. It was a large room, half of it taken up by the cells that lined the walls down the right hand side; the rest of the room resembled a corridor, only there wasn't a door or turn at the end, just more wall.

It was weird being down here, it felt wrong in a sense, though she guessed that fact that they weren't meant to be there in the first place didn't help. She didn't know if the door separating the cell area from the rest of the floor was sound proof or not but it was probably for the best if they worked with the idea that it wasn't.

"Down here, his' is near the end."

Danni didn't argue as Demyx looked back over his shoulder and towards the door, grabbing her wrist as they passed several more cells. He'd get into a lot of trouble if they got caught, she would too, but she'd probably be able to talk her way out of it, that or she'd get off lightly. Either way it was him who would take the brunt of it. That wasn't really fair though, she mightn't have worded her wishes, but he had known she'd wanted to come here. Danni nodded to her self as they stopped outside one of the cells, mentally making a promise to herself; if they did get found out, she would take the blame.

He looked pretty much the same as he had a month ago when she'd last seen him, possibly a little more tired looking, but not mis-treated. ShinRa was still trying to distance itself from the actions its' name had sanctioned and condoned in the past, it was easy to say the ShinRa of today hadn't done any of it, but people only saw the name and immediately associated it with Mako Reactors, pollution, gil, greed, Sephiroth…the list went on. What would the people say if they found out a member of SOLDIER had already betrayed them? They would say history was repeating itself and whatever trust the company had managed to build up over the last couple of years would be abandoned out of fear. They would be left to start from scratch again.

"Why? That's all I want to know."

Rick didn't even bother to look up from where he lay on his bed, arms folded behind his head as he stared at the ceiling above. It was amazing how much interest you could direct at a plain surface when you were at a loss to do anything else. The cell was relatively large, not massive but not at tiny square either. Still, no matter what way you looked at it, he was still in here against his will. Maybe he'd put in for it? It had only been a matter of time until he'd been found out, he knew that. But what choice had he had? He hadn't had a choice, maybe people would say otherwise, but in his eyes he hadn't. Okay, maybe he hadn't done so for the _greater good_, but he'd done so for something that meant so much more to him than a continuous fight.

No one wanted to understand his reasons; no one really gave a damn. He had been labelled as a traitor, so now that was all they saw him as. That was fine, he did deserve that label. But he had only done so because he'd had to, not because he had simply felt like selling them all out. Years he had been with SOLDIER, surviving in the shadows, living on rumours of attacks and living with the burning shame of knowing they weren't helping those who bothered to fight. SOLDIER hadn't simply been a cover to glean information…it had been his family, his life. And now it no longer wished to have ties to him; he had already heard through the grapevine that two out of his three seniors, along with the division's director, had washed their hands of him. He guessed by her question Danni had been the exception to them.

He doubted very much that her opinion or say would change anything. She would still be outnumbered and for situations like this, majority ruled. He doubted she would be on his side anyhow, let's face it, he hadn't exactly been all that welcoming on first impressions; managing to get his chair kicked out from under him and landed on his butt on the ground. In hindsight, maybe he should have been a bit more accepting? Bit late now though.

Why would she believe him anyhow? Was there even a chance she would? She had been the only person to call a halt to what was happening on the SOLDIER floor that day. The blond Turk certainly hadn't, but looking back on it now, he didn't blame him. He had given key information about Danni to the Organizations' boss, the man had asked for information about the girl the _Melodious Nocturne_ cared about. That had stumped him at first, or at least it had until he had overheard one of the secretaries telling her friend about her boyfriend's nickname and his friends'. It hadn't taken long for him to find out the story behind their odd nicknames, which had probably been the reason he had spoken to the blond like he had after being caught. At first thought it was easy to say they had done the exact same as he had, leaking information. But four weeks of staring at a cell's ceiling had made him realise it wasn't the same. He had aided the wrong side, putting at risk countless lives and the trust of his friends.

Rick sat up slowly as he met Danni's gaze, passively noticing the dirty look the Turk standing behind her shot him. He was between two minds; not knowing whether to simply blow her off like he had everyone else or to be honest and explain exactly why he had done what he had. Either way he doubted it would make a difference. But he wanted someone – anyone – to know he hadn't betrayed SOLDIER for the sake of it, that he'd had a difficult decision to make, and that he had had reasons for choosing the path he had.

But where did he begin? He didn't want to come across as a sob story; he wasn't that, it wasn't that. It had been one of the hardest decisions he had ever had to make, and now he would live with the consequences for the rest of his life. A small smile fleeted across his lips as he ran a hand over that tattoo adorning his arm; branches of a cherry tree in full blossom, or at least that was the visible part, the rest of the tattoo stretched across his shoulder blades and down most of his back. That had been for his parents. Their names were on two of the branches.

"My parents died a few years after I joined SOLDIER. I have no brothers, I have one sister, Brook. My parents adopted her from Wutai when she was a newborn, her biological mother died after she was born and a father had never been in the picture. When they died she was sent to live with our aunt and her husband. A few weeks before SOLDIER resurfaced I got a message from my aunt; she said Brook was in hospital. A week or two later I got another message; turns out Brook's biological mother died of an epileptic seizure, also turns out it's form is heredity. My family is not rich, most of my family are selfish and proud pricks; most of them won't accept Brook, sure she has different features and more sallow skin, but she's still my little sister. Doesn't matter to them though, the only family she knows won't help her. My aunt and her husband do what they can to look after her, but they're not exactly young anymore."

Rick groaned as he moved his legs off his bed and onto the floor, staring at the floor as he unwillingly became angry. So what if someone wasn't a relative by blood, that shouldn't count. Brook was his baby sister, medical bills were piling up, his aunt couldn't pay them, she tried – god love her – she tried her hardest to do right by her brother's daughter, but sometimes even someone's best still fell short.

"I went outside one of the nights, I couldn't sleep; too busy disowning most of my stuck up family. I don't know where he came from or how he knew, but Xemnas was there, he knew that I had a sister and she was ill, he knew my aunt couldn't meet the bills. I asked him some questions, he didn't seem to know where exactly they lived, but he knew enough. He made me an offer – act as an informative and he would ensure the medical bills would be paid. What was I supposed to do? I know I should have done whatever, it wasn't a decision I made easily, don't think I haven't regretted it since, but Brook's my sister, if my aunt can't meet the bills then Brook doesn't get the medication she needs, if she doesn't get them then her seizures get more frequent and extremely worse – I don't want her to die like her biological Mom did. Hate me for what I did, I don't mind, but SOLDIER comes second to my baby sister."

Of all that things he'd expected to hear, that hadn't been one of them. Demyx averted his eyes as he suddenly felt guilty for hating the SOLDIER. He wasn't lucky enough to have siblings, if he did then he didn't remember them. That thought tended to depress him a small bit, but he had learned to look forward instead of backwards, no answers lay in the past, only in the future. He didn't have siblings, neither did most of the others, but Axel did. Axel didn't speak about it much, but unlike the rest of them he did recall his life before the Organization, a few times he spoke about it, only once had he actually been open and serious though. And that had been an eye-opening experience; he had gained an opinion of Reno in a whole new light thanks to it.

Danni smiled weakly, a painful pang of sympathy hitting her hard in the chest. Things weren't as black and white as they had appeared to be…though now she felt herself wishing they had been. Family always complicated matters, it was just how things worked; almost like a universal rule. The girl was only fifteen; Rick was twenty four; that was an age gap of nine years, the same amount that separated her and Zack. She had never liked Xemnas, she had only seen the man once and that had been the night he'd attacked Demyx when they'd been on a date…a date which had ended in a visit to Twilight Town and Hollow Bastion…but using someone's family situation as leverage was cold and low, but though she hated admitting it; it was a good tactic too.

This wasn't fair. It didn't help that she was now biased…her parents had made a deal with ShinRa so that they could pay medical bills for Zack when he had been a kid…wow, this really did hit close to home. And now she was supposed to just sign off and cut ties? But that just wasn't fair, not when he hadn't had a choice in the matter. People without younger or older siblings could easily contradict his decision and preach about the greater good, but when it came down to the line; the greater good paled in comparison to your family and the people you loved. The greater good looked so much better when you could look at it from outside one of those situations, but when you were in the thick of it, it didn't seem as important.

"Why didn't you say all this before, Rick…I know you don't think anyone would understand, but I do."

How? How did she understand? He didn't want to come across as a jackass; he really didn't have the energy or the will to be a jerk right now. But how did she understand the situation he had been placed in? Betray his friends and the people he had lived with, hidden with and fought with, or stick by them and betray his little sister who was currently being shunned by all but one of their stingy family? She didn't have any younger siblings, sure she was pregnant but judging by the otherwise unnoticeable change in how her customary tank top fitted her figure, she wasn't even that far along. Either way, it was different from his situation, a lot different.

"How would you understand Danni? It's not the same."

Danni shook her head, finding herself unknowingly taken aback by the SOLDIER's reasoning; she hadn't expected him to have any reasons let alone what he had just said. But she had wanted to know, and now she did. She wanted him to know that she did understand. Most of the people at ShinRa saw her as a continuation of the Jenova Project and they were correct in their assumptions, but what they didn't know was what had gone on behind the scenes. She had spent most of her childhood under Angeal's guardianship, she loved him to bits because of that, he had protected her and looked after her. Her parents hadn't been given that option, they had tried to regain custody, so to speak, but ShinRa had been a monopolising and greedy company, not afraid to eliminate those who opposed them.

What no one else saw was the choice her parents had had. Save one child and sacrifice another to a life of training and experiments, or save the second child and be unable to save the first. She didn't hate them for the decision they had made though. Sure, she hadn't gotten to enjoy the normal childhood things like others her age had, like sleepovers, birthday parties, just playing outside with their friends, but she had earned an insight into the adult world from an early age. Maybe that was a bad thing, in some cases it certainly was; no child should have know how to recognise Mako poisoning, no child should have to watch the people she looked up to fight and kill others. But it had opened her eyes and had made her realise that sometimes people didn't have a choice in those matters. She still didn't know to that day why her parents had felt so badly about their agreement with ShinRa, okay maybe she hadn't got to enjoy the same kind of childhood other kids had, but that was okay. She didn't hold it against them, if they hadn't made that decision then Zack wouldn't have gotten the medical treatment he'd needed, he would have died. He wouldn't be around now.

Danni smiled weakly as she looked back into the cell, watching Rick walk around its' confines idly and in random directions, staring at the ceiling with his arms stretched behind his head again. She did understand, more than he thought she did at least.

"My Mom and Dad were killed when Gongaga was attacked…but before I was born Zack got really sick, I'm not from a well off family either, but ShinRa approached my parents and offered to foot the medical side of things for Zack if they would agree to take part in a continuation of the Jenova Project…which is why I'm a SOLDIER…my parents told me this a few years ago, they apologized…but I know if I was given the choice I wouldn't change anything, because it helped my brother when he was sick."

Okay, he'd been wrong. He accepted that and acknowledged that fact. Rick stopped mid-step as he looked up, meeting her gaze again before shrugging and sitting back down on the edge of his bed. He hadn't known that about her. Of course several members of the ranks did tend to wonder why a young woman of her age was a 1st Class, but all they had ever been told, be it by Angeal, Genesis or even Kunsel on several occasions was that Danni had been a member of SOLDIER since she had been a young child, that was all.

It didn't change things though, okay she understood him now, he had gained an insight into her life, but he was still here. He was still stuck between a rock and a hard place. If Xemnas found him, then he was more or less dead, he knew that himself. Xemnas was as cold as they came, and now that he was no longer any good as an informative, that meant the deal was off, Brook's bills would start piling up again and he was no longer of use to the Organization, he doubted Xemnas would be all too happy with that. But if he got transferred to the WRO base then he knew whatever little protection he had had in this cell, both from the Organization and from others would be gone. Whatever way you looked at it, he wasn't coming out on top.

"So, what now?"

That was a very good question. At the end of the day, it was up to Danni to sign off on the transfer of custody, not him. He was just a means of getting into the cell area unnoticed and hopefully out unnoticed too. He personally didn't like the way SOLDIER were handling this matter, but that wasn't for him to say. ShinRa was an odd company. When he and the others had first decided to defect, they had used Roxas to get in contact with Sora; turns out he had known Cloud all along, which had then led them to ShinRa. But it was only looking back on it now that he realised even in the few months he'd lived in Edge how much the company had changed. When he'd first encountered them, ShinRa had only had their Turk ranks to act with, but now they held command over ranks of SOLDIERs once more, along with the Turks. Their numbers had greatly increased, as had their presence itself.

All along the company had acted in alliance with AVALANCHE and the WRO, leaving the media front to Reeve. That was something else had noticed about Edge, or more so Gaia, granted the world had almost been destroyed several years back, but the people had found their feet again, thriving even despite the limbo of the last few years.

Demyx shook his head as he stopped his train of thought; he really needed to stop doing that. Thinking back over things certainly wouldn't solve the dilemma at hand, if there even was one. Speaking as a Turk and solely from a personnel's point of view it was pretty simple. The man had become a liability and therefore needed to be removed from the equation. Simple, right? But if it was really that simple then how come the two of them were still standing there, where they certainly shouldn't be to start with? Because she was torn, he knew that looking at her, her eyes gave it away. She would feel guilty if she simply signed off like the rest, but if she didn't then she was going against them and majority tended to rule. Wow, this was confusing him. Demyx turned as he walked several feet away from the cell, ignoring the odd look Danni shot him.

"What're y-"

"Just, you two talk about whatever…I have to try and think."

Demyx shrugged, waving a hand in her general direction before going over to the wall directly across from the cells, placing his forehead against the wall as he tried to gain some perspective on things. He needed to think about it differently. Right now he was looking at it from a ShinRa personnel's point of view and as Danni's boyfriend, but knowing what had made Rick do what he had changed things. He knew how Xemnas worked; he should have guessed it had been him to instigate the idea of an informative.

The more time that passed, the more his hatred for his past Superior grew. In the Organization he had done his best to stay out of the man's way, doing whatever missions were handed to him, regardless if they were beyond his ability or not. He had hardly ever even spoken to Xemnas in a conversation, the only time the man had addressed him had been to give him orders. It did bug him as to why the twisted leader suddenly hated his guts so much, it couldn't just be as simple as being down to what had happened that night months ago. If it was because he had defected, then how come he didn't despise the others to the extent he so evidently hated him? Granted, the Larxene thing and the Vexen thing certainly hadn't done him any favours.

This was just another way for the Superior to prove his power. He had taken a SOLDIER's weakness and exploited it for his means. Xemnas didn't care about matters such as loyalty or trust, all he cared about was that people obeyed him. He may have been the carefree idiot back then, but he'd been watching; watching ever move the Superior had made and taking mental notes of his character and how his mind worked. He didn't know why exactly, but he had always hated him. Demyx personally couldn't remember any action or past happening that would have given birth to his hatred for Xemnas, it had just always been there.

What would he have done in Rick's place? He didn't know, that was the thing. He didn't have a family, or at least he didn't anymore. He didn't know what he would have done if he'd had a little sister and she'd been ill, he liked to think he would have done the same as Rick, but he couldn't say that for sure. The same with the position Danni's parents had been put in, he wasn't a parent, so he didn't know that either.

Demyx stopped his mental debating as realization crept over him, a sickening feeling developing in his stomach as he turned back around, glancing to Danni as he ran his hands through his hair. That was right, he wasn't a parent – not yet – but in a few months he would be. That was a scary thought…what happened if he was put in the position Danni's parents had been? He prayed to whatever god that looked down on them he wouldn't be, but if he was, what would he do? Betray his friends and side with the enemy or betray his child and stick by them? Now he was actually scaring himself…what would he do? Would he seriously abandon his responsibilities as a parent just to stick by a company or a division? He wouldn't, he couldn't, not when it came down the line…no, he'd throw all other responsibilities to the side.

Demyx glanced to the still closed door, shaking his head as he looked back to the SOLDIER in the cell. If he got caught on this, his butt would be severely on the line. Never mind his butt, his neck would be. But what he had just realized had really put it into perspective for him.

"Where is your sister?"

Rick frowned as he stood, not following where exactly this was going. What did it matter where Brook was? He was here and wasn't getting out of here anytime soon. So then why did the Turk want to know where she was? He wouldn't assume she was an informative too, would he? He mightn't see eye to eye with the blond, but he didn't strike him as the kind of person to make irrational decisions.

"Icicle Inn, why?"

Icicle Inn…okay, he had been there - a week or two ago he'd had to go on one of the choppers with Reno for a scout over the Northern Crater to ensure there was no more activity there. They had landed near Icicle in to collect something for the President. But he knew where the place was, that was good. That meant he could open a portal to it instead of somewhere near there. Would ShinRa assume that's where he had gone though? No, first they'd have to figure out how he had gotten out of the cell, seems he and Danni had entered via a portal they weren't on any of the cameras and no one had seen them. So hopefully they wouldn't be suspected. He was supposed to be at Seventh Heaven now, asking Danni to sign off, she was pregnant and on sick leave, so no one would suspect her. That was fine. With any luck they would assume a nobody or one of the Organization dealt with Rick.

"It leads to Icicle Inn…get rid of the SOLDIER uniform, change the sim card of your phone into another, only the bodies of the phones contain tracking chips. Go; don't contact any one in this company. Don't draw attention to yourself."

"Demyx…"

Danni gave her boyfriend a warning look as she looked to the portal he had opened at the back of the cell. This could have some serious repercussions on them. She hadn't expected this, she still remembered when Rick had been found out; all Demyx could see had been red. He'd refused point blank to even try and understand the man, and now here he was just allowing him to walk away from it all? It took the decision out of her hands, well not really. She would still have to sign off but she wouldn't have to live with the guilt of it now. But what if they got caught, what if they figured out Demyx had opened a portal, he'd get into so much trouble…

"Demyx, you'll get-"

"I won't. We used a portal to get in and we'll use the same to get out. No one saw us and none of the cameras did. Anyone asks, we went back to the apartment because you felt sick. They'll assume a remnant or one of the Organization."

See, he was getting good at this thinking things through stuff, it wasn't all that hard; just imagine what could go wrong and hope to god it didn't. In all seriousness though, it was now or never. If Rick wanted to get himself out of the hole he'd dug himself into, then he needed to move now. Why did people always act so retarded when they really didn't have time to? That seriously got to him, this guy was being handed a way out and he just stood there with a stupefied look on his face.

"Go."

Rick looked from portal to Turk, stunned by what he had just said. He hadn't expected this, he'd expected to be transferred to the WRO base, not be handed a free passage back home. He didn't know what to say; somehow _thank you_ seemed hypocritical and not enough. He did however feel an intense guilt for comparing what Demyx and the others had done to what he had…it wasn't the same. He knew that much now. But again, _sorry_ would seem hypocritical and a little too late. He glanced back over his shoulder before walking into the ominous black portal, a small smile on his face as he nodded.

"It's not the same thing."

* * *

**_A/N: Thanks for reading huns!_**


	36. Affliction

**_A/N: I'm really sorry this took so long to update, things have been a little crazy lately, I've been trying to write this with a few days, so I hope it's okay._**

* * *

Even a month had done nothing to calm the place. One would have thought with four weeks of freedom from fights or attacks that people would have calmed down or relaxed somewhat, but maybe it was a good thing people hadn't? Either way this lull wasn't a nice situation to be in. Not when you knew that things could shatter at any moment and there was little you could do about it. Except maybe pray it didn't turn out to be a repeat of Gongaga.

A week had flown by since she had last been at ShinRa, though as far as anyone was concerned that had never happened; this was her first time back since the last fight. The one they had lost. That had been a weird night; they'd lost alright; that much couldn't be denied. But because of that night they were now up a 1st Class SOLDIER, an Ancient, though that could be both a good and bad thing. Good for the sake of knowing an entire race had not been wiped out thanks to Sephiroth, but bad in the sense it put her in danger once more. Danni rolled her eyes as she walked through the reception area, passively noticing Axel's frame leaned over Sandra's desk. At least he wasn't still letting on that there was nothing between them, they were cute together, but Axel was crap at hiding something.

The best thing they could do now was do the best they could to ensure things didn't end in the same way they had a month ago. The last thing she remembered from that night was his cold and unyielding eyes, their jade glaring straight through her. She'd never seen eye to eye with the man, he had been a 1st Class SOLDIER; she had been a young girl who had constantly wanted to go home or fell below his idea of par. She had knowingly annoyed him on occasions, not realising that of all the members of the force, he had probably been the one she'd had the most in common with. But that was irrelevant now, that had been years ago, it didn't matter anymore.

She guessed it didn't help calm matters that the only person ShinRa had held in custody had seemingly vanished. That had pretty much caused uproar at first, and still had Rufus in a bad mood. The President was not person who liked having his leverage taken away or have something happen that he did not fully understand. The blond had demanded to know how something like this could have happened despite the constant twenty-four hour surveillance and two SOLDIERs stationed outside the cells at all times.

All eyes had turned onto Demyx and the others within the first hour of confusion, though not for long once each of the gang had presented a water-tight alibi. Both Zexion and Axel had been with Lazard, lending their knowledge of the worlds to the SOLDIER director as ShinRa decided to go ahead with stationing some of the 2nd Classes in a few other worlds, the first place they were looking was Hollow Bastion. Marluxia had been with Reno and Rude, idly making some of the recruits' lives hell in the staff lounge. Roxas had been helping Elena by carrying a stack of files…the proof of which was now the rather painful looking bruise on his hip that he'd gained from missing the first step on the stair case. Demyx had been with her at their apartment, apparently anyhow.

At least now the initial panic had died down, it seemed that Lazard, Rufus and Tseng had all agreed to accept Rick had left via a portal and that all persons capable of summoning portals under ShinRa employment had been accounted for in the time frame. That had been a relief, right now she was just glad suspicions had died down. If it had been down to solely her, then she probably wouldn't have felt so uneasy. But knowing that if it were to fall through, it would all fall back on Demyx had had her worried sick. It was just a major relief that people were now more bothered with moving forward rather than being angry and trying to figure out Rick's disappearing act.

"Explain Hollow Bastion to me in five words or less."

Danni didn't even skip a beat as she registered her brother's question, not in the least bit caught off guard by his sudden presence at her side. That's something she'd noticed in particular lately; he had an unusual knack for disappearing without a trace and then popping up unnoticed some time later. At first it had been annoying, well not that exactly, but it bugged her because everytime he reappeared it had made her jump or startled her, then he laughed and simply went off to pull the same trick on someone else. It was funny then, she got to laugh at Zack's victim instead of being the target of his boredom, lately his favourites were Cloud, Demyx and Angeal, but he was yet to pull the trick on Reno or Axel.

Describe Hollow Bastion; that was easy, ducks, claymores, wizard, small houses, big wooden doors, large computer, a SeeD dude with an attitude problem, but why did Zack want to know about Hollow Bastion? Scrap that, how did he know what Hollow Bastion even was? Danni scrunched her eyebrows as she threw her brother a confused look, voicing her questioning thoughts.

"How d'you know about that place and why d'you want to know about that place?"

Zack shrugged, truthfully speaking he really wasn't bothered about knowing anything about the supposed world, but he didn't really have a choice in the matter. He had been informed earlier that he was the 1st Class who was to accompany several 2nds and 3rds to Hollow Bastion. He had hoped he'd escape having to accompany any of them to any of the worlds. He didn't like those portal things Demyx and the others were so adept at using.

He'd only gone through one once and that had been with a severely injured Danni in his arms, but despite his attention having been split between her and figuring out how to explain his apparent reappearance he'd noticed the pull and tug of the darkness, how the wispiness closed in to an almost suffocating level, only letting up once you thought you were going to be taken by it. It just wasn't a nice sensation at all. How the five youngsters used them as they did was beyond him. He watched them using them for transport, for pulling pranks on others, pulling pranks on each other, and none of them showed any signs of discomfort or wariness of the malicious looking windows.

Either way he now had to go to Hollow Bastion and the only way to get there was to use a portal or something called a Gummi ship, personally he hadn't an iota what a Gummi ship was so a portal was the only other option. He still didn't see why he had to go, he had to come back after setting up a temporary operational base for the 2nds and 3rds along with opening a portal into the ShinRa mainframe grid for contact and information sharing, surely they could manage that on their own? Evidently not, he'd tried that argument with Angeal after Lazard had left; it had only earned him one of those looks. He may not be the man's pupil anymore but he still knew what that look meant; it meant he wasn't going to win the argument regardless of how hard he tried.

"I got landed with Hollow Bastion along with Marluxia, Genesis and Roxas got Twilight Town, Roxas was supposed to go to some castle with Angeal but that got changed for some reason, Angeal and Zexion have the castle place, and I think Kunsel and Axel got Traverse Town. Still don't want to go though."

See, if she had bothered to think about it, then she would have realised why Zack had asked about Hollow Bastion. Demyx had told her about the placement of the different teams in different worlds a few days ago. Though what Zack had just said about Roxas was a bit odd. Usually you were told where you were going and that was it, no switching or swapping. Demyx had told her about a few of the worlds, two of them had castles, one was King Mickey's Castle and the other was Beast's. There was no reason for the blond not to go to Beast's Castle, but if the destination was Mickey's Castle, then she knew why the blond had switched teams. Naminé was at that castle.

She had never met the girl, nor had she ever seen a picture of the girl, but she had been filled in on the back story of Organization XIII a few weeks after meeting Marluxia, Roxas and Zexion for the first time. She knew of the choice Roxas had had to make when the gang had cut ties from Organization XIII, he'd had to cut ties from his girlfriend, not even giving her an explanation, leaving her completely in the dark as to his whereabouts or his reasons for leaving her. Danni knew he'd only done it to protect Naminé in the long run, and she saw the affect it had had on the blond, but she also knew what the girl must be going through. It wasn't a fair situation for any of the two to be in. Maybe they could sort things out eventually though?

Danni shook her head as she rounded a corner, almost slamming into one of the 3rd Class SOLDIERs as she came back to her senses, only then realising that she had allowed her thoughts to wander. The building was unusually full, she guessed it had to do with the placement of the teams in different worlds; the staff that were usually off at this time were being called in to cover for those who were leaving. The nineteen year old shrugged as she noticed Zack giving her a rather poignant look; evidently he still wanted an answer to his question.

"Um, in five words or less, hmm…ducks, claymores, wizard, Moogles, mainframe."

A small smile crossed her lips as the older sibling halted mid-step and gave her an odd glare. Hey, she was being truthful. And five words wasn't all that much to work with. Though for some reason she knew even if she wrote a whole essay on Hollow Bastion it still wouldn't make anymore sense than the five words she had just used. It was like her asking Axel where exactly a world was, it didn't matter how long you had or how many words you used, you couldn't give a straight answer.

Danni looked back to her brother as a random thought crossed her mind, where was Aerith? She had barely seen the woman in the last week or so, and now it seemed her brother was spending most of his time here, so where did that leave Aerith? Why hadn't she asked herself that already? She didn't really know the woman all that much. Tifa and Yuffie seemed to know her pretty well, as did Tseng and Cloud, but they'd all met her before. She hadn't, all Danni had know was Zack had had a girlfriend and that had been her name. The woman was a stranger to her, she had been in Gongaga when Sephiroth had tried to destroy Gaia, she hadn't heard about the last Ancient who had been brutally murdered by the man. It would be a lie to say she didn't feel somewhat uneasy or uncomfortable around the female, but she would have to find some way to overcome that sooner rather than later.

"Zack…where's Aerith?"

"Huh?"

This time it was his turn to scrunch his eyebrows, somewhat thrown by his younger sister's random question. She was at Seventh Heaven, like she was with the last few days, Aerith had decided to help out Tifa and Yuffie behind the bar, which in turn allowed Cloud to keep up deliveries and help out a small bit at ShinRa when they needed it. Which was actually a good option to have considering Spikey's reputation. See, and who said you had to make SOLDIER to be a hero?

"The bar, could have sworn someone told you that already…you don't have a good memory, you know that?"

"Oh yeah, like yours is so much better…"

"Hey, at least I can remember where my girlfriend is."

"You say that as if it's an accomplishment or something – you're _**supposed**_ to know where she is!"

Maybe keeping them apart in the past had been a good thing, if the pair were bickering now as adults, then Angeal only thanked his lucky stars he hadn't had the misfortune enough to experience their bickering when they had been kids. It was too early for arguing anyhow, then again that hadn't stopped Zack earlier. But that wasn't the point, right now they were just annoying him. He was tired, having only started a second shift; Genesis had chosen a rather bothersome time to look for payback for the shift he had covered when Danni had been ill.

A whole night of trying to organize the different teams and assigning one of the Organization Turks to each team, right now he just wanted to go fall asleep somewhere, anywhere would do, even the floor was starting to look comfortable. Genesis had just come in but that only seemed to add salt to the wound knowing that his friend, who he had been covering a shift for, was now in and he still couldn't go home. Angeal rolled his eyes as the two supposed mature SOLDIERs continued their bickering, after another moment or two the man clapped the older of the duo over the back of the head, putting an abrupt end to their arguing.

"What's this, catching up on lost years?"

Zack only grumbled under his breath as he rubbed the back of his head. That hadn't been fair, he hadn't started it. And even if he did, how come he was the only one getting slapped upside the head? How come Danni had escaped that? Was it his fault he pointed out the blatantly obvious, maybe it was, but it wasn't his fault Danni didn't have a good memory. In the month he'd been back he'd watched her lose her phone about a dozen times, along with her keys and watch. He was just trying to be a good big brother and inform her of her faults; surely he didn't deserve to be punished for that, right?

"Hey now, I'm too old for you to be still doing that Angeal, and how come you didn't hit her?"

As mature and eloquently put as Zack may have thought he'd worded that, to Angeal it just sounded childish and immature. Then again Danni sticking her tongue out behind him wasn't doing much in her favour either. Technical answer, he had only hit Zack upside the head because he had been unlucky enough to be the one on the same side as the man's free hand, Danni had been lucky enough to be on his left, in which he held a cup of coffee in a last ditch attempt to stay awake. As Zack's adamant and slightly hurt looking glare continued, Angeal simply raised the cup and shook it slowly in front of the other SOLDIER, giving the man a chance to work out the obvious answer for himself.

Danni stopped her gloating as she caught a whiff of whatever Angeal had in the cup, her stomach instantly began to knot and twist over itself as it registered the smell. How could he drink something that smelled that nasty? The odour of it alone was making her feel ill…why would anyone subject themselves that that level or torture when it could easily be emptied down a sink somewhere. The young woman was forced to swallow forcefully as the scent seemed to strengthen, why didn't they notice how horrible it smelled?

"Oh God, that's disgusting!"

Only for she felt she was going to vomit, Danni would have laughed at the identical dubious look on both Angeal and Zack's face; eyes looking at her with confusion, mouths slightly open, both not really knowing how to react to her words. They could start by getting that cup of whatever away from her, unless they felt like seeing what she'd had for breakfast that morning. Personally speaking she didn't really feel like seeing her breakfast again…

"Just keep it away from me…"

He could never explain why his sense of humour picked random times to rear its' head, he had tried to figure it out once, but that had been boring and confusing. It was just easier to go with the flow and make the most of whatever his sense of humour had found interest in. Right now it had decided to investigate Danni's sudden dislike for what Angeal had in his cup. He didn't smell anything horrible or disgusting. Before Angeal had a chance to protest or stop him, Zack had grabbed a hold of the cup and removed the plastic lid, peering at the contents with slight disappointment; it was just coffee. What the hell was she freaking out over coffee for – she drank the stuff – what a let down, he'd been hoping for something unusual; anything to break the mood of this morning. Everyone seemed to be in moods ranging from pissed off, to determined, to painfully tired. Why couldn't they just lighten up a bit, it'd make things easier on everyone in the long run.

"It's just coffee..."

* * *

"How come he got to switch teams?"

Demyx blinked as he registered Zack's question, the same question he'd been listening to for the last half an hour. Why couldn't the man just accept that there was a viable reason behind the younger nobody's quick reshuffle? Final checks were in process, the chosen bases in each world had been set up already by him and the others along with a few of the SOLDIERs. That itself had caused a bit of a stir in the differing worlds. Maybe they'd been a bit naïve to assume it wouldn't, it was only when he thought about it that Demyx recalled Hayner's reaction when he'd mentioned SOLDIER all those months ago.

It was weird to think that people in other worlds knew of the SOLDIER program. He had only heard tell of it since they'd all defected from the Organization. Sora had put them in contact with Cloud, who had seen a use for their abilities and information in AVALANCHE and ShinRa. Somewhere along the lines they'd been filled on the details regarding Sephiroth, MeteorFall and Geostigma. He still wasn't crystal clear on all the details about SOLDIER, though he now had a general to good level of knowledge about the force thanks to its return. The force had remained in Gaia the first time round, despite that its' name and legacy had stretched far beyond its' home world. This time it was stationing agents in other worlds too, stretching their ranks as far as their name had spread.

Roxas face had been comical when Lazard and Tseng had told him which world he'd been assigned to; he'd been forced to hide a smirk as the younger blond had immediately voiced his objections. To anyone else it just looked like the teenager had gotten out of going to a place he didn't want to go, which probably explained Zack's curiosity. The truth of the matter was Naminé was at Mickey's castle. Roxas hadn't even had a chance to break things off with the girl, nor explain why he had to leave her. He'd just dropped off the radar. Months had passed since they'd fully broken away from the Organization, which marked the same time Roxas had had to leave Naminé. Being sent to the place where Naminé currently was, along with a team of SOLDIERs and wearing a Turk's uniform would not be the best way to walk back into someone's life.

"Roxas had a girlfriend called Naminé, when we came here for good he had to leave her without telling her. Sounds bad, I know, but it was either that or she'd be tracked by the Organization. She's at Mickey's castle right now, so's Kairi; it's the safest place for both of them. Anyhow, that's why Roxas was allowed to switch. Naminé's not what you call a normal girl, she's kinda like us but not at the same time…uh, where's Danni?"

Zack simply shook his head as Demyx only then noticed the lack of his girlfriend. It'd taken him longer than he'd expected it to. Danni had taken a detour to the bathroom about ten minutes ago. He'd decided since her little scene earlier that there were only two possible explanations for his sister's odd turn. The first was a hangover, which he seriously doubted. Neither her nor Demyx had been at Seventh Heaven last night, Demyx had been late finishing work, so unless they'd had drink back at their apartment, but he still doubted that. Danni had been steering clear of alcohol since she'd been told she was pregnant. This had then led him onto his next explanation, which was morning sickness. That made him somewhat sympathetic, but it had also seemed to give rise to his sense of humour again, that itself had earned him a mouthful from his younger sister; it seemed she wasn't really in the mood for jokes or teasing this morning.

"One of the toilets...umm, word of warning; she's in a bad mood, which is kinda my fault."

* * *

Whenever something someway good happened, something bad always seemed to follow soon afterwards. Almost mocking the fact that she had allowed herself to think things were okay. She'd gotten away from SOLDIER; years had passed in which she had allowed herself to think things would now be okay. All the while her brother had been almost killed, taken hostage as an experiment sample, held prisoner for four years, and then killed. Sephiroth had been defeated, only for Geostigma to pop up. That had been dealt with and then Sephiroth and his three brothers had popped up. Gongaga had been destroyed. She'd survived the massacre her hometown had suffered, only for no trace to be found of her parents; no bodies, no trace whatsoever, only the assumption they had fallen to Shadow Creepers.

She'd been brought to Edge. Had started over, helping Tifa, helping Cloud, gained closure about her brother…then Sephiroth had come along again. Angeal had come back, so had Genesis. She'd fallen for someone, and then he'd been almost killed whilst out on a date with her. Demyx had been okay, then Edge had been attacked and she'd been ill. She and Angeal had reconciled. Then Larxene had kicked her butt into next week. She'd moved in with Demyx, then got the seven shades of crap beat out of her before finding out first hand how Cloud had felt being at that monster's mercy.

But then Zack and Aerith had come back and she'd found out she was pregnant, okay granted that hadn't been planned, but it wasn't a disaster either. So what was going to happen next? Something bad always seemed to follow regardless of how much they tried to prevent it. Right now they were trying to prevent anything getting past their defences, she could see that; SOLDIERs, Turks and WRO agents all in the same briefing hall; on the same floor; taking part in the same mission. That was something which had never happened before. Maybe that's why things had gone wrong before? They had never all acted as one universal force, instead remaining in their separate groups, all pulling in different directions and accomplishing nothing.

Things had been quiet and safe for too long. With every day that passed by, the dread in the back of her mind seemed to grow. She knew him…she knew he wouldn't simply give up and disappear. If things had been that easy, then they wouldn't be here now. He was planning something. He had to be. The Remnants were just his little puppets, at his beck and call to do whatever he or _mother_ so wished for them to do. They wouldn't argue; they wouldn't refuse. The Organization was different though – what was in this for them? She knew little of its members, but from what she had gleaned she knew they wouldn't simply agree to help someone like Sephiroth without gaining from it too.

Though it did bring an old saying to front of her thoughts; the enemy of your enemy is my friend…they were Organization XIII's enemies now due to Demyx and the others splitting from its ranks. It did beg the question though, was the Organization only working with Sephiroth and the Remnants to spite their former members?

Danni groaned as she leaned back over the cold white bowl, hugging it for the want of some escape from this constant nausea. This just wasn't funny anymore. For the first five minutes or so, she'd seen the humour in it too. But that had quickly worn off when her stomach had continued with its knotting and churning. It was getting to the point where she was nearly willing to be stuck with Mako poisoning instead…at least with that she could go lie down in a dark and quiet room, going between consciousness and unconsciousness for however long it took for her levels to even out again. She couldn't possible get sick anymore, there couldn't be anything left in her stomach at this stage…but that didn't stop the nausea. Danni groaned again as she wondered if this was how Yuffie felt whenever she stepped onto an airship, if so then she had the utmost sympathy for the woman, she'd seen it as a joke all along, the ninja's Achilles ankle, but not anymore…it was an affliction, one of the utmost seriousness too.

* * *

_**A/N: Thanks for reading huns.**_


	37. Crater

_**A/N: Hiya huns! Really sorry this took me so long to update, I just got back from a week in France, followed by utter chaos as University offers came out and results left right and centre. Anyhu, I started writing this chapter while still in France, I'm pretty okay with how it turned out, had to ask Kisara Strife for some help with Demyx's back story though, but I think it works ^__^**_

* * *

"How do you guys use those things so casually?"

Marluxia raised an eyebrow questioningly as he turned, watching the rest of the SOLDIER group to come through the portal he had opened. Use what so casually? The only thing he had used just now to give rise to Zack's question was a portal. Portals were part of the package with being a nobody. Of course he used then casually, they were the easiest and fastest way to travel between locations and different worlds. Granted, there was a possibility that a remaining member of Organization XIII could intercept the portal, but that was only a slim possibility. It allowed relocation for a group of people in a matter of seconds or minutes compared to the hours or days it would take to do so by gummi ships or airships.

"Because they're easy and quick, you just walk through them and save a lot of time."

Zack shook his head as he watched the younger man close the misty black window. Maybe it was an acquired knack to be able to pass through them without feeling the claustrophobic dragging of the dark mist. Personally speaking he despised the portals; they just weren't nice to be in. They made him feel small and vulnerable. He could be on top form one moment, but as soon as the mist enveloped him its threads began plucking away at his confidence and dreams, replacing them with cold emptiness.

"Yeah well, they really bother me…feels weird…this is Hollow Bastion?"

"No…I decided to take a detour and visit my Grandmother first."

For someone so venerable and relentless in both field operations and training, Zack was still a painfully gullible person. Marluxia waited another second or two before shaking his head with a hint of a smile on his face. He didn't mean the gullible remark to take away from the man, not at all. Since he had been reinstated, Reno had filled him in on the back story of the SOLDIER. Explaining how he and Rude had been told to find Zack and Cloud after they'd escaped from Hojo. And what they had found when they'd eventually arrived at the bluff; almost one hundred dead grunts and Zack's body amongst the mud, of which had been tinted red by the rain mixing it with the blood of those who had fallen. They'd buried his body there and then, not giving ShinRa the chance to reclaim and destroy it, wanting to cover up any evidence of what had happened with the SOLDIER.

He certainly would not want to cross the SOLDIER. He wasn't being big headed or anything, but his fighting style depended heavily upon his nobody attribute. It he was to fight solely upon swordsmanship then Zack would have him on his butt in a matter of seconds. Of course this was Hollow Bastion; he'd thought that was relatively obvious; leading to his somewhat sarcastic answer.

"Forget it. Yeah, this is Hollow Bastion, or Radiant Garden, whichever you prefer. Most of us stick to using Hollow Bastion, but just so you know, it goes by the two."

Zack nodded quickly and then set his sights on the large wooden door. He couldn't honestly say he wasn't nervous, but determination seemed to be keeping it at bay for now. He didn't like admitting he was a little nervous, but he w was. Not solely for himself but for SOLDIER as a whole too. This was the farthest the force had spread its man power to date. As matters stood they had enough in their ranks to hold a strong base in Edge, along with these several smaller bases in other worlds. It meant spreading their still recovering force a little thing, but he reckoned they could put up with the strain.

Lazard and Rufus had also been in talks with Junon officials lately, laying out strict and unyielding conditions that were to be followed to every letter and punctuation mark for any people dubbed applicable for SOLDIER training. Needless to say ShinRa announcing the reinstallation of the SOLDIER project to Gaia-wide media had caused several bumps in the road. A handful of anti-ShinRa groups had tried to cause uproar, citing that it had been SOLDIER's fault for how things were now. Asking why they bothered to reappear now after so many years and near-disasters? Had they been afraid? Had they bee ashamed?

Actually, partially yes on the last one. They had been ashamed. Well, he'd been dead so there hadn't been all that much he could have done. But he'd seen and watched the others and they had been ashamed. None had said so, none had admitted so, but it was a clear thing to see if one had only looked from the outside in. They had been ashamed of how far the once venerable and respected force had fallen. Personally speaking, if he hadn't been painfully and slowly wasting day after day in a form of limbo along side Aerith, then he would have been the first person to kick t hem in their collective ass and tell them to stop feeling sorry for themselves. He knew if he had been feeling sorry for himself the way they had, Angeal would still be kicking his butt.

"The main guy here is Squall Leonhart, or Leon sometimes, bit of an identity crisis really. He's a See-D member; an elite mercenary group trained at Balamb Garden. Also, Cid Highwind created the defence system. They're called Claymores. Small orbs of whitish-gold, they will approach you and other SOLDIERs because as far as the system is concerned you are unknown individuals, like the Organization. Avoid them unless you want to end up sprawling on your butt."

For some odd reason, this neither shocked nor surprised Zack. While he had been thinking to himself, the group had descended several steps and slope, passing some shops along the way. He'd seen the Moogle, he'd seen the three ducks in the ice-cream shop, Marluxia had just explained about the Claymores and by what he saw ahead of him, one of the 3rd Class SOLDIER's was about to learn just how much of a punch they packed. All that was left was the Wizard and the mainframe.

* * *

"Feeling better?"

Danni nodded as she felt his breath on her neck. Yeah, kinda, she still felt like throwing up but at least now she was only feeling that way and not actually hugging a toilet bowl any longer. All along she had thought Tifa and Yuffie had been exaggerating when speaking about their pregnancies. More so Yuffie than Tifa actually, the ninja had a habit of embellishing small stories into vast epic sagas. But this was one time where the Wutain Princess had remained completely truthful. The killing part was Danni was nowhere near as far along as any of the three older females, so did that mean she was going to be stuck feeling like this for months to come?

Not much she could do to help that though. She guessed it was just part of the package in the long run and just looked forward to when it subsided. Zack had just left for Hollow Bastion with Marluxia and the rest of their assigned team, a sour look still firmly on his face as he had stared down the portal before walking through. They had been the last team to leave. Leaving her the only 1st Class left at their base and Demyx the only Organization Turk left on base. Which brought her onto another question; how come he hadn't been assigned to accompany a team to any of the other worlds? It hadn't occurred to her before but now that he was standing behind her, it did raise the question.

"Yeah, a little. How come you weren't assigned to open a portal for one of the worlds?"

He had already guessed this question would arise, but the foreknowing had done nothing to aid in the wording of his explanation. Demyx frowned slightly as Danni turned to face him. Her gaze holding onto his, awaiting an answer to her query. He had had the better part of a week to tell her, but his cowardly ways had seemed to resurface everytime an opportunity to explain had come about. Maybe he should have told her the day he'd been assigned, but hindsight was a brilliantly ironic thing. Demyx shrugged, averting his gaze as he dug his hands into his pockets and glanced to the wall mounted clock of the briefing room; he was just about due to leave.

Just as the blond opened his mouth to speak, Tseng and the other core Turks arrived, minus Elena. Great, now he really didn't have a choice in explaining or not. It wasn't that he was scared of being honest, he just knew how she'd react and it was that which worried him. She'd either get angry or start worrying, which was stupid because it was only a scouting mission, no big deal.

"Because I was assigned to go to the Northern Crater in Elena's place."

Three, two, one; eyes widening, mouth opening, gaze flicking between him, Tseng and Lazard asking for an explanation while her head rushed to try and piece together her objections. He knew what was about to happen, she would over react. Leaning on the knowledge of what had happened to Tseng and Elena the last time that location had been investigated. But that had been years ago and activity had been reported there last week, followed by a few smaller ones this week. They did not have a choice but to scout it. SOLDIER was already stretched as thing as it could go without possibly breaking. The Turks were the next line of defence. He knew she just worried about things lately, but he was a Turk too and this would probably amount to nothing anyhow; they'd be back before lunch-time, cursing the people who had reported the activity for wasting valuable company resources and time.

"Do you even know what happened to Ts-"

"Tseng and Elena? Yup. But you're SOLDIER, I'm Turk, we have different duties. Activity was reported, SOLDIER is spread as thin as it can go so it falls onto the Turks, it's probably nothing anyhow…see you later."

Danni blinked as she felt a quick peck on her cheek, immediately followed by the exit of the four black-suited males. He wasn't supposed to do that; being calm and logical, making her feel as if she were over reacting. That was her job. But the Northern Crater wasn't anything to be taken lightly; especially not if there had been activity reported. ShinRa had been flying over the crater on other field operations lately, just to keep an eye on it, but for someone else to report activity there did not bode well. That place was connected deeply with someone who needed no introduction. She had a horrible feeling about this whole thing, and it wasn't the morning sickness either.

Lazard simply shook his head as the young woman turned her sights on him. The matter was out of his hands, SOLDIER was his responsibility and his alone. The Turks were Tseng's and Tseng's alone. They did not interfere with each others running of the divisions. The two only consulted the other when an overlap in the forces was needed; such as the missions today. Other than that they remained estranged while at work. He understood her concern and her worry, but Demyx had been right; it would more than likely turn up nothing and all would be back soon. ShinRa couldn't be seen to not investigate a public report of activity in that location; it would seem hypocritical in the long run and do nothing for the company in terms of popularity and acceptance.

"I am the Director of SOLDIER, not the commander of the Turks."

Typical; she had partially seen that one coming though. Lazard was a lot like Rufus; actually the two were rather alike in several aspects. She had only been a kid prior to SOLDIERs' disappearance, but she had still been old enough to note the similarities between the two. Though Rufus had undoubtedly and undeniably caused much more trouble intentionally and openly; Lazard had done his own damage to the company from the inside out without any concrete evidence pointing to him. She guessed that's why he had made the rank of Director of SOLDIER without having any or very little field experience, his strengths lay in his quick thinking and ability to mask true intentions.

"You and your brother are more alike than either of you know."

Danni almost laughed out loud as her Superior turned in his seat, arms crossed as his cerulean eyes met hers. A challenging glare shinning through as he held her gaze. He hadn't thought she'd known. That fact was evident to see and she took some pride in knowing that she had figured it out by herself. All the hints were there if one would only look closely enough. They resembled each other, but it was easy to say someone looked like someone else. If you looked at somebody long enough you could draw parallels between their features and someone else's, even if they were total strangers.

She had figured it out just after Angeal had brought her back to Gongaga. She'd only had a few books and small mementos in a small rucksack, Angeal had put whatever he had known she'd valued into her bag before leaving ShinRa. Those books had been adorned with the usual signs of wear and tear, along with random scribbles and side notes she'd written, along with numerous examples of Angeal's handwriting at spots where some of the longer words had confused her and she'd been forced to ask him for help. She had been the little girl who had been trying to wrap her head around some difficult words; no one had bothered to hide their rumours and gossiping from a little girl's ears. She had heard all the rumours and stories. Once she'd been back in Gongaga, free time had come in abundance in place of training. She'd spent some of that free time mulling over the rumours and hints, piecing them together into the full story.

"How long have you known?"

"Figured it out a few weeks after Angeal took me back to Gongaga."

* * *

Zack glanced around him as he followed the younger man through a door and into a room which he could only describe as a study. The SOLDIER took note of a rather large and ornate desk, backed by an egotistically large portrait of a young man sporting whitish-grey hair; the walls were lined with dark bookcases, full to their brim with books and encyclopaedias of differing sizes and colours, giving the large room a deceptively claustrophobic feel in all.

The Squall kid seemed okay to get on with. They'd spoken briefly before heading for this place and while he couldn't deny the youth had a stand off nature; one that bordered on uncomfortable, but that didn't bother him all that much. He'd had to deal with worse people in his lifetime and anything after four years of Hojo was a walk in the park. He knew his stuff though and he seemed like a smart kid. SOLDIER had heard tell of the Mercenary school he'd been trained at and the high standards of their cadets, despite that the two had never crossed paths. He'd seen the mainframe in the Wizard's house, along with hearing said Wizard's muttered curses directed at the technology. Squall had also entered his and the accompanying SOLDIERs identities into the town's defence system, ensuring no more of them fell victim to the Claymores.

This place seemed like the best place to establish a base of the SOLDIERs that were to remain stationed in this world. Squall had mentioned a number of empty and somewhat derelict rooms upstairs above the maze of corridors they had just walked through, if they could move all the books up there then the cases could be used for storage for any files or paperwork, the study could serve as an office base.

"Can these books be moved?"

"If you need them to be. This way, I think you might be interested in the use of this too."

Zack complied, following the jean and belt clad young man through a side door of the study. The scenery changed almost immediately, replaced by metal, open space and reinforced plexi-glass. Call him old fashioned but he felt anything but safe walking on a transparent floor, knowing there was nothing except for a sheet of plastic and a sheer drop below him. Needless to say he wasted no time in following the SeeD to the more substantial looking metallic floor.

To any other person this whole underground complex would have appeared a wonder or architecture and a marvel, but after seeing all ShinRa had managed to hide away in the past, Zack knew looks were almost always deceiving. What really caught his attention though was the rather advanced looking computer in the room he had just walked into; more buttons than he cared to count, a large screen, several smaller screens along the side, an over view of the entire hidden complex through large glass viewing windows.

They could certainly work with this, first thing first was to find out what other programs or software was installed on the computer. Find out what could be removed and what had to remain intact. Have one of the technicians to set up internal firewalls to prevent any of SOLDIERs contents clashing with anything that had to remain on the terminal. Next in line was to sort out accommodation for the group of SOLDIERs that were to remain stationed here, that he reckoned would be easy enough.

This castle seemed a large enough space and Squall had also mentioned some empty housing in the town that was there if needed. The town itself had a remarkably strong and unique defence system, one that incorporated both magic and technology. And also one that packed a powerful punch. Despite his attempts to avoid it, he had fallen victim to one of the claymores. If they failed, then there was the Bailey as another wall of protection for the town. Taking everything into consideration, it was a good base.

* * *

"You feel okay?"

Demyx looked up quickly from where he'd been staring at the floor of the chopper, holding his head in his hands. That was Tseng's voice. He was an easy enough guy to report to; sure he was a little cold at first, but that's the way the man worked; he protected the people he cared about. It had been a rough first few weeks, despite having known the man as an ally prior to joining the Turks. Earning the man's trust had given him a glimpse at what the Turks actually was. Turks protected their own; they covered one another's backs; knowing each others abilities and weaknesses, working with that knowledge to cover a partner's shortcomings and depending on them to cover your own weakness.

"I'm fine, just a headache. And wondering how much of a slating I'm going to get when we get back…"

Tseng smirked as the blond shook his head and leaned back, glancing out the window of the chopper as clouds shot past. The young man had made a rather hasty exit from the SOLDIER briefing room. Not allowing his girlfriend to voice any arguments or warnings. Things wouldn't turn out all that bad once they got back from this. Danni would have probably be too snowed under with paperwork meant for all four 1st Classes to collar Demyx over anything. He was a good Turk, better than he had expected, that went for all five of the Organization members now in his ranks. The first few months of working in alliance with them whilst they'd still been part of Organization XIII had shown him little more than their willingness to betray loyalty. Granted their betraying had worked in ShinRa's favour, but it still showcased their willingness to play double agents.

As bad as it sounded, his distrust had continued up until the night Demyx and Danni had gone on their first date. He'd been in the bar when the others had realized who the other male voice they'd heard through the phone had belonged to. That night had been a disaster, between the five youngsters suddenly upping and disappearing along with Danni, leaving them open to a direct attack on Edge, then SOLDIER deciding to resurface, then the confusion of organizing and accommodating a force along with realizing Mako poisoning was still a risk for members of SOLDIER. He wasn't too proud to admit the advantage of having five individuals of their capabilities either. Tseng followed the blond's gaze out the window as the ground loomed closer as the rhythmical thumps of the blades slowed as they landed.

Demyx stretched as his feet touched the solid rock of the crater. He really didn't like this place. The sun was shinning but because of its intimidating structure, it remained cold, dark and dank inside the crater's structure. This place was made go give people the creeps. How anyone had gotten close enough to spot any activity was beyond him. Plan of action; scout around, see if anything had changed, any signs that anyone besides themselves had been here, go home take some aspirin, pray his headache went away and get through the rest of the day.

The young man looked over his shoulder as an uneasy feeling seemed to settle heavily upon his shoulders; something wasn't right. No one else had seemed to notice anything though, Rude was standing a few feet behind him, as was Tseng, while Reno remained inside the chopper, keeping it powered in case something was to go wrong and a hasty exit was needed. He couldn't quiet place what was wrong though; everything looked in order, no marks or signs of activity. The blond turned again as he scanned the dank innards of the crater, trying desperately to decipher anything that could be using the shadows as a hiding place. There he was, standing just inside the shadow cast by the sun's presence on the other side of the crater. Tall, skin tanned, grey hair only accentuating his sallow complexion and intimidating figure, all set off by those haunting yellow eyes.

The younger Turk groaned inwardly as those yellow eyes he so hated met his, holding them in place while getting one clear message across; no one was going to be going home before lunch time. This was his problem to deal with to the best of his abilities. He did not mean that to take away from any of the three others, Reno far surpassed him in terms of hand to hand combat, as did Rude, with Tseng miles a head in strategic thinking and firearms. But all those strengths were nothing in the eyes of his former Superior. Going on old instincts, this would be the moment where he turned heels and ran, but why bother? So that Xemnas could follow? So that he could harm others how knew very little about the man's abilities? Demyx sighed as he walked forward a few steps, using his control over water and the naturally occurring mist along the bottom of the crater to create shield behind him; forcing the other three Turks to stay out of the way and hopefully any nobodies that may be summoned to stay away from them also.

"Xemnas…"

He should have killed him that night he'd been with the girl. He knew that now. Demyx had proven himself to be a rather annoying thorn in his side with the last few months. He had sent Larxene to harm the girl, intending on drawing the blond out. It had worked, to an extent. Though he had to admit despite himself, he had not expected to learn Larxene's injuries had been caused by him. He had expected them to be compliments of Axel, Zexion possibly, even Marluxia, but not Demyx. He also had not believed the nobody to be capable of dispatching Vexen in the manor he had, though Xigbar had served as a witness to that. As Superior to the Organization, he knew of each of his subordinates attributes, their abilities and what their abilities were capable of, even if the nobody in question was yet to discover that branch of their attribute.

He had underestimated him, he knew that now also. That last piece of information that SOLDIER had delivered had really caused him to realize just how much time had seemed to come full circle, mimicking past events to an almost tee. He knew more about Demyx than even the youngster did. There had been no reason to reveal that before, but maybe now there was; if only to toy with someone's head a small bit.

"Do you remember your true name?"

That question took him aback a small bit. No, he didn't. He never had, and even if he did, he wasn't that person anymore. Did it even matter? Sure, he'd wondered what it had been; Axel knew his and also had all the memories of his life before the Organization. Roxas knew his. Zexion knew his also. But what did it actually matter? That person had died when he'd been born as a nobody. Demyx shook his head slowly, trying his utmost to hide the gleam of curiosity from his irises. He knew from the way Xemnas had spoken his query that he knew the name was gone from his memories and had been with a very long time.

"No, but you already know that. Why?"

"I am sure you have wondered. I know you have. You are more like him than I anticipated."

Demyx froze mid-step and looked up, meeting those harrowing yellow eyes he had been avoiding with the last few seconds; him? Who was he like? And why would it matter to Xemnas if he was similar to somebody or not? How would Xemnas even know if he bore similar traits to somebody else or not? How did he know that he had wondered about his true name? Was that a bluff; based on the fact that nobodies within the Organization in general pondered their original names and personas? Okay; that explained the name thing; a blind bluff. But what about the _him_?

The blond kept his eyes locked onto the yellow hued pair as dots slowly began to connect themselves within his mind, fighting their way through a maze of utter confusion and questions as the full picture slowly began to take shape. For some odd reason, Zexion's words suddenly echoed in his thoughts; _Because they targeted her to get to you. I know how the Organization works better than you think; for Xemnas to send Larxene here, after Danni even, it was a revenge mission. What did you say or do to warrant that?_ What had he ever done that the others hadn't to warrant low blows from the Superior?

"What have I done which the others haven't? All five of us betrayed you. All five of us fought against you. All five of us despise you. So why am I the one you single out every time?"

Nothing really. If he were to be truthfully honest, then Demyx had never done anything different from the other four to warrant such special attention. But didn't people always say a son inherited the sins of the father? He had meant in every sense of the words what he had said to the young man the night he had interrupted and evident date; he was his nobody. His and only his. That was the difference. He had made him; a nobody born of a vengeance. He had warned someone not to cross him, but he had. That had been his mistake.

He had given him a warning; made it clear that crossing him was not an option. None of the other apprentices had dared cross him when he had decided to cross Ansem. Ansem was a fool and a coward. He had been too cowardly to try to understand how a heart had worked. But he hadn't been, and neither had the other apprentices; apart from one. Granted Daken had not been one of Ansem's closest apprentices, but he had still turned his back on them when Ansem had been banished; choosing to return to his home world and to his family instead of furthering their experiments. He had vowed the day Daken's absence had come about to track the apprentice down and tie up lose ends.

It had not been an easy job locating the man's home world, but he had done so in the end; tracking down his former colleague. Granted he had not expected the man to have family besides his own siblings and parents. His underestimation had gone back as far as then. Daken had had a wife, along with a several children; the eldest being a thirteen year old youth with piercing aqua eyes and messy blond hair. To this day Xemnas still wasn't sure to exactly why the boy had caught his attention. By the time he'd been faced with the kid, the rest of his family had been dealt with. He guessed by making the kid a nobody, it was another way of showing Daken, from wherever the idiot may be watching, that he still had some control of him and his family.

"You look a lot like him. You appear to have the same ideology as him. By making you a nobody I may have accidentally given you abilities he could only theorize about. But I do wonder, will you beg for you life like he did?"

"Who?"

Demyx felt his eyes narrow as the dots continued connecting themselves, a sickening twist forming in the pit of his stomach as Xemnas stepped from the edge of the shadow, a small and uncharacteristic smirk twisting the corner of his mouth as he took enjoyment out of the blond's confusion and trepidation. He knew what was coming really, even if the memories evaded him. But that could be fixed too, the only reason his memories of even his original name were still blank was down to one simple reason; he had made him a nobody purposely, unlike all the others of the Organization who had been either apprentices or accidental Nobodies; Demyx was unique without even knowing it. He had been purposely turned, because of that; Xemnas had the ability to hold back the memories of his original self. But maybe letting that barrier go would make for some problems and entertainment at the same time?

"Your father."

* * *

_**A/N: I know I kinda left this at a bit of a cliff hanger, mainly because I suddenly realized I was half way though my seventh page on mircosoft word and partially because my Mam wanted her laptop back(yes, mine is still in the process of being ressurected -__-). As I said, I had to consult my twin sis for help with figuring out Demyx's backstory, I had the main outline in my head and how I wanted the different characters connected, I just needed her help with the finer details. It shouldn't take me all that long to update, I want to really get back on track with this fic.**_


	38. Undone

_**A/N: Sorry for the wait - I finally got my laptop back! ^__^!! I got a virus on it weeks ago, it wiped off all my internet drivers and stopped my USB ports from working. The guy who fixed it is seriously one of the best - he spent ages trying to fix it without deleting any of my stuff, so I still have all my rough work, writing and pictures - yay! :P**_

* * *

Reno stared, as he remained half sitting and half standing from his pilot's seat; caught between what to do. Did he follow Tseng and Rude to where Demyx had cut them off or did he stay put? He still remembered what had happened almost four years ago now, when the Remnants had appeared here searching for Jenova's head. Of all the missions, he had gone through since joining the Turks that had been the worst. In the limbo that had taken hold after Midgar's fall, people had been forced closer together. Having to leave behind Tseng and Elena had been one of the lowest points for the Turks.

The Turk cursed as he sat back down, keeping the chopper powered. By what he could see, Demyx had cut the other two off from following him, which was pretty stupid; Turks were a team. On the other hand, they had yet to be pitched against any of the Organization members. Personally speaking he was not in a rush to jump head long into a fight where he had no idea of his opponent's abilities. He had seen how much it had changed his brother. He had never expected to see Axel again, seeing that same annoying little kid all grown up and packing a rather intimidating reputation had taken him utterly by surprise.

It was still a stupid thing to do; Turks operated as teams, pairs at the very least. The only time a Turk operated alone was if their assigned partner was killed or if they were assigned a mission that specifically required one skilled individual. This was not one of those missions though, this was one that the four of them were assigned to, and so what the hell was blondy playing at? He had to stay put; he did not have a choice in the matter. He was never one for rules, but he knew which ones were unyielding and which were bendable - Demyx was breaking so many basic rules right now.

Demyx blinked as his ex-Superior's words rang in his ears. He was not sure why the concept of a father seemed so alien to him. Everyone had a father, regardless as to if, they knew him or not; whether they remembered him or not. He had only the vaguest recollections of his life prior to Organization XIII, random scenes, a garden with lots of flowers, a beach with lots of people at night. If he did not remember his life or family from before waking up in The World That Never Was, how did Xemnas? He shouldn't know, it was not a possibility, not unless he'd been there.

It was only as his foot struck a loose stone, sending his balance awry for a moment, that Demyx realised he'd began to take several steps backwards. Why was he even backing up, he'd already cut off Tseng and Rude, Reno was still in the chopper, and Xemnas was still holding his gaze. Backing up was turning back to how he had been in the Organization; running from confrontation. This was just messed up, how would Xemnas know whether his father had begged for his life or not…the only way that was possible was if Xemnas had been there…

Demyx flinched unwillingly as an image caught him off guard; many people on a beach, only the moon lighting up the black inkiness of the night's sky. Somebody's back faced him, a few feet beyond the person stood another figure; an outline he almost immediately recognised.

"You were there."

There was the crack, just a matter of time before the walls of the dam became too weak to hold back their load. He hadn't come here for a fight - that would come soon enough. He had come here to stab another blow at an old colleague. That was something he had thought he'd given up years ago after the blond before him had become intertwined in the ranks of the Organization, but he now knew he hadn't; it had all still been part of getting one up on someone. Though that someone was long gone from the world of the living; having the clueless blond around had always served as somewhat consolation prize. If he had been judging the young man on this predecessor then he would have foreseen the betrayal, but it was a little too late for that now.

Clashes could wait until later, the blond had proven himself more adept in combat than any could have fathomed, but the Melodious Nocturne had already set his own downfall. He had cut ties from the Organization, but had set up ties with others. By all accounts, he and the girl he had been with that night - the girl Sephiroth stabbed - had become close. The last he had heard, compliments of the SOLDIER leak, the girl was pregnant. That in itself had given the Nobody a fatal chink in his armour.

For now, however, the blond could swim in the sea of memories that were soon going to drown his consciousness. They had been held back all these years, but why bother now? He had cut ties from Organization XIII, so therefore he could have all that came with the path he had chosen, regardless of the mental strain. He could tell by how the young man's eyes flickered focus between invisible targets that the dam was starting to crumble.

Xemnas suppressed a smirk as the barrier Demyx had raised behind him crashed to the rocky terrain of the crater with an echoing splash. He watched for a moment as the two suited individuals the barrier had hidden noticed the collapse, one already cocking a handgun and taking aim. They really knew nothing of his abilities.

"Don't, he can project barriers."

Demy shook his head as he tried to rid his ears of a deafening buzzing. He knew by this stage that Xemnas did not intend to instigate a fight; he would have done so by now. He was here to stir shit and leave everyone else to mull over it. He would deliver any blows later, after first weakening resolve. Still the strange images flooded his mind, people he had no idea of, voices that rang distant bells. He wanted to stop Xemnas from walking through the portal he had just summoned, but his body was not listening to his head anymore. He wanted to stop him and demand answers for the questions he'd left hanging in mid-air but the portal was dissipating now.

Everything seemed to have taken on a surreal feeling, Tseng's voice sounded much further away than it should have, everything seemed to be in slow motion, his body having delayed reactions to what his head ordered, and then everything seemed to take a sickening lurch sideways.

* * *

She had never been a fan of paperwork, but she had never vehemently voiced her dislike for it either. That had come to a horrible end today. Danni had long since lost count of roughly how many times she had cursed the entire SOLDIER floor for its sheer volume of paperwork. Between organizing missions, writing up reports of past missions, more fieldwork to keep track of, working out different training sessions in the simulation room and just a massive pain in the head really.

So much for computers making offices run more smoothly, no it didn't. It split the full work load between two mediums - a medium that everyone seemed so hell bent on protecting with authorization codes and passwords - okay, those were security measures, she understood that to and extent - but it was just a pain in the butt having to remember that many numbers and passwords.

The floor was unusually quiet; she guessed that was due to thee mass exodus of SOLDIERs earlier. There were still enough left to operate missions, but a large chunk of the force had been spread over a few worlds. It made the place a little easier to move through, just a pity it didn't make all the paperwork easier.

Danni slowed as a large brown envelope caught the corner of her eye. She knew it couldn't be another mission report, she'd made sure to pick them all up before dropping them off at Lazard's office, or at least she'd thought she had. The young woman stared at the envelope for another minute or two before she finally recalled what it was; the envelope Demyx had given her after she'd persuaded him to help her find out where the woman Genesis had mentioned now lived. She glanced back to the glass panel that separated her office from the corridor outside, ensuring that no one was around, and then sat down; deciding to work on the deal, she had set up with Angeal weeks ago.

She was not sure what exactly she was supposed to do with it, hand it over to Angeal was probably a good idea, but then he would go off on his own and she would be none the wiser as to whom the woman actually was. That in itself gave her the answer as to what she should do; the envelope gave little resistance to her invasion, allowing her to scan over the sheets it had held inside. A small photo in the upper left hand corner of the top sheet showed a young woman of Wutain descent, a list of information lined the other side of the photo, giving her name, date of birth, height, weight, eye colour, along with notes about her family and relationships. The further Danni read through the summary of the woman's completed missions and reasons as to why she left the Turks only three years after SOLDIER defected, the more taken aback she was becoming.

The young woman started unintentionally as a sigh broke the thick silence of her office. Danni jumped to her feet, grabbing the top sheet of Alex Yamamoto's profile and stuffing it into her back pocket, keeping her eyes glued to the black coated figure leaning against the far wall of her office.

"Perhaps it doesn't pay to be too loyal to one's heart? You are starting to show; a child is a terrible burden and a weakness to one's heart. Now here is your torment; do you tell the one your heart cares for that I was here, so that he may track me down? I promise you he will not walk away from another meeting. Or do you keep this to yourself and spare him?"

Danni backed up a few paces, her amethyst eyes remaining on the man before her. She had only seen him once before, but the events of that night were still burned vividly into her memory. She despised admitting it, but Xemnas shook her to her core - even more so than Sephiroth. She had known Sephiroth the entirety of her childhood, granted they hadn't seen eye to eye, but she'd literally lived on the same floor as him. She knew his capabilities even if she couldn't match them. With Xemnas she didn't, she had seen a small example of his abilities the night he'd shown up in Edge, it also didn't bode well that he'd managed to get into her office without so much as a rustle.

Why did she feel so vulnerable? Why was she breathing so quickly, was she scared? That did not make sense; she was a SOLDIER, one that ranked as a 1st Class. Her childhood had been spent training and running through simulations; she should not be so scared. She was on the SOLDIER floor of the ShinRa building; this was her territory, not his. Nevertheless, maybe that's what was so unsettling. Xemnas had managed to get into her office, located on the 49th floor of ShinRa's headquarters - their supposed base - without alerting a single person.

"Consider your decision, Danni."

Then he was gone; melting into the blackness, which had seemed to grow on the wall behind him. Not allowing her to ask questions or react. Danni allowed herself to exhale a shaky breath as the full reality of the moment hit her. He could have killed her, she'd been here by herself, in an office which had no camera surveillance, on a floor which was much emptier than usual, she had also been weapon-less and inexperienced in dealing with his abilities. So why had he come and gone just like that?

* * *

He'd known there was something up when the chopper had landed earlier than expected. The nagging thought of something wrong had been silently backed up by the fact that Reno hadn't contacted the building to clear for landing. The fact that none of them had approached his office nor had they appeared at the briefing room did nothing to quell the nagging in the back of his head.

Rufus ShinRa was not one to lose face, not now when the media were looking for any small unsavoury detail of ShinRa's to exploit, exaggerate and point out to everyone in the wrong light. However, all he had noticed about his Turks' early return coupled with what had happened that last time they had ventured inside of the crater, was now pressing heavily upon his consciousness.

By process of elimination along with common sense Rufus found himself walking onto the medical floor; it seemed the most logic explanation to him and a glimpse of a certain black suited employee immediately validated his educated guess. Why was it a week couldn't pass without at least one member of his staff ending up being admitted to the medical wing?

"Who? What happened?"

Tseng turned as he registered the President's query, he had just been about to go to his office. It seemed the blond had saved him the walk though. Who, the answer could be two things, Demyx or Xemnas. As to what had happened, he wasn't entirely sure. Both he and Rude had heard the words exchanged between the two, for what little sense they made. It had been strange enough for the Organization's leader to simply walk away, but the strangeness level had not been helped by Demyx blacking out.

"Xemnas was at the crater, he and Demyx spoke briefly. He used his ability to stop either Rude or myself from getting close. Xemnas left and Demyx passed out. He hasn't come around yet. Tyler cannot find a reason for his state, so that leaves the conclusion that it is not something that affects humans. Zexion and the other nobodies have been sent messages instructing them to return to base as this could relate to the Organization."

Why was it that things could not go to plan for just one day either? Rufus sighed as he nodded, sure, he would have appreciated the others being called back run by him first, but Tseng had made the right decision. All had gone to plan so far, each of the five teams that had left for the other worlds earlier this morning had called back to base, giving their location and confirming that all was well. The SOLDIER floor was emptier than usual, the remaining inhabitants left trying to pick up the slack and spreading resources finely. And now this came along to overshadow how well things had been going.

One step forward and three steps back; that's exactly how things had been since he'd taken over the company. It was times like this that Rufus understood why his father had chosen the path he had for the company; it was the path of least resistance. Those who had gotten in the way had been simply removed or taken care of. Whereas the path he had been trying to follow had met them with hurdle after hurdle, at this moment in time he was severely tired of trying to clear them. Nevertheless, he didn't have a choice in the matter - it was his job and his duty.

"Contact Lazard, inform him that 1st Classes are to be pulled back also. Xemnas and Sephiroth are allies; if one is around I am certain it is not just a coincidence."

* * *

"Danni."

Danni spun as she heard her name, immediately expecting the same individual who had appeared in her office. Assuming such was stupid though, she knew the owner of the voice, it was Roxas. But he was supposed to be in Twilight Town, not standing in the middle of the corridor behind her. Why had she jumped like that? Why was her heart hammering painfully against her ribcage? She was completely over reacting again.

"Hey, it's only me - you look like you've seen a ghost."

Roxas eyed his friend with a wary eye, noticing her uneasiness. Maybe opening a portal in front of her as opposed to appearing behind her would have been a good idea. He guessed she hadn't been expecting any of them back yet; then again, he hadn't been expecting himself back yet either. Tseng had sent an email to his phone requiring him to return to base, only a few minutes after that Lazard had done the same for the accompanying 1st Classes.

"I-I'm fine, you threw me is all. You aren't supposed to be back yet, has something happened? How did setting up a station in Twilight Town go?"

The blond shrugged as he fell into stride with Danni. He didn't know what was going on yet, that's why he had come here first instead of Tseng - it would have helped if he'd known where exactly his commander was - but he had hoped that Danni would have known what was going on. Evidently, not, she would have said so by now.

Twilight Town had been fun, despite the fact he'd been there under work circumstances. Both Hayner and Pence had had a good laugh at his expense; teasingly poking fun at his black suit and white shirt. Still though, it had been good to see his friends again. The last time any of them had been to Twilight Town, it had been Danni and Demyx and certainly hadn't been under the best of circumstances. The last time he himself had been there was well before he and the other four had broken ranks of the Organization. He hadn't realised how much he'd missed that place though; being technical about it, his time there had been mostly non-existent. He'd been held in a virtual simulation of Twilight Town, the friends had made had been virtual too.

It had been hard trying to accept that the people he had bonded with, those he had made friends with had no recollection of him period. But when he finally had come face to face with them again, not long after the Organization had been resurrected, they'd remembered him. Only vaguely at first, but it was as if the memories had grown. He still was not as to how that was possible and Diz was no longer around to explain either, but he was not complaining either.

"Not sure why we got called back, 1st Classes got called back too. Twilight Town went to plan, the base is set up in an old Mansion on the outskirts of the town, do not think you saw that place; you have to go through the Town's outer wall and through a small wood. It's a big place, basement computers - though one of them is trashed."

She knew by his sheepish smirk and the way he adverted his gaze that the trashed computer somehow, be in intentional or accidental, tied back to him. At least things in his department had gone to plan. Despite that, the fact that the Turks and the 1st Classes had been called back was not a good sign. The main reasons for a recall would be an imminent attack, needed for either offensive combat or defensive combat. But nothing had gone awry here, so there shouldn't be a reason to call back any troops. Both Danni and Roxas stopped and looked up as someone rounded the corner they were about to turn, almost walking straight into them. Neither spoke as Zexion looked from one to the other, then spoke quickly as he summoned a portal.

"Roxas, time to stop hiding from her, we need the witch's help with this one."

* * *

_**A/N: Next chapter should be up pretty soon, it's gonna have some Roxas/Naminé shipping in btw :P**_


	39. Memories

**_A/N: Sorry for the really long delay. I'm back at school repeating my leaving year, things are hectic and the work load is so not funny __**

* * *

Danni looked from Roxas to Zexion as the first grimaced and the latter grabbed the younger nobody's arm, practically throwing him through the portal a few feet away. She didn't understand what was going on. Who was the witch? Moreover, why did they need her help? Zexion was the one who knew the most regarding the Organization and the workings of a heart, Demyx hade explained to her how he had been one of the founding members of the Organization; a past apprentice of Ansem The Wise. But that still didn't go to explain why he'd just thrown Roxas through a portal to only god knew where.

"Zexion - what's going on?!"

He didn't want to be asked that question, he still wasn't fully sure himself and hated trying to go on partial information. The way he saw things, there was no point in telling a story if you only knew half of it. Right now he only had half of it, which was why he wanted Naminé - so as he could get the other half of it and be certain. Having said that, Danni did have a right to know too. The schemer looked up another individual rounded the corner - Axel - he could explain. He knew how to deal with Danni better than him, she was his friend too, but dealing with emotions had never been his strong point.

"Axel will explain."

Axel shook his head as he watched Zexion walk into the portal. Typical, leave him with the task of explaining despite the fact that he was as lost as him. Zexion just hated not having the full information about whatever was happening. Then again, even when he did have the full picture, the nobody tended to stick to facts and give a somewhat cold and unattached account. Probably not the best strategy when the situation involved two friends.

And now she was looking at him expectantly. He knew that look from Sandra…he had roughly about five seconds before hormones took hold and he got his butt handed to him on a silver platter. Explaining suddenly seemed like a good idea to the pyromaniac.

"Xemnas was at the Northern Crater, something went down between him and Demyx, and we're trying to figure out exactly what right now. Which is where the Witch comes into play, hopefully Naminé can help."

Danni froze as her blood ran cold - Xemnas was at the Northern Crater, that meant he would come from there to her office, of which still confused her. Had he hurt Demyx? She'd seen what he could do, was that why everyone had been called back? Why did they need Naminé's help? The SOLDIER frowned as she felt another bout of morning sickness taking hold, or at least she assumed it was the morning sickness, either that or today was getting the better of her. Demyx had said it was nothing, she'd believed that, so how come she suddenly felt everything coming undone yet again?

It was happening again, it always happened. The young woman had come to realise in the last number of months that whenever something good happened in her life, something bad soon followed to overshadow it. She had thought it had simply been her own paranoid thinking, which had led her to that conclusion, but feeling Axel's arm around her shoulder as he steered her towards the elevator, she knew it was not paranoia, it was real.

* * *

This wasn't right, she was the one in the bed before and he had been the one sitting down not knowing what to say or do. Why wasn't Zexion back yet? Why wouldn't he wake up? Axel said he'd passed out, that was all. She had passed out before; she now bore a small white marring line to the side of her right eyebrow as proof of that fact. Even then, she had come to rather fast and it had been the table on the way down, which had dealt her the most damage and not the blacking out itself. So then why hadn't he come to yet?

Axel had led her here, she hadn't noticed where he'd been walking to until she'd seen the pristine white floor passing below her feet, she had been too lost in her own thoughts to pay attention to where the tall red-haired young man had brought her. Reno had been here, he'd explained what he'd seen and what he had heard of the conversation between Demyx and Xemnas.

If not for what Axel and Reno had told her, she would have simply ventured a guess that Demyx was asleep, sleeping on the job. Nevertheless, she knew it was not a normal sleep; the way his eyes darted back and forth behind their closed lids, coupled with the almost audible murmurs and mumbles…it was unsettling. And she couldn't do anything, not a single thing. If Sephiroth were to attack, she could fight back, she may still be iffy after the painful results of the last clash, but at least there was something she could do. Right now, she could do nothing but simply wait.

"Baby-doll…"

Danni looked back over her shoulder as she registered Angeal's voice, instantly noting the use of her long outgrown nickname; that was the second time he'd called her that since he'd come to Edge. She knew immediately by his use of her nickname and his tone of voice that he was speaking to her on a purely personal level and - hopefully - not as a SOLDIER.

Angeal stood still as he crossed his arms in front of his chest. She looked worried and scared; a look he had not seen in her eyes with many years, not since she had been a mere child. Back then, it had been born of a young girl facing the simulation room or hiding behind his hip from a leering Hojo. Now it was a young woman struggling to understand what had happened to the person she loved.

He hadn't particularly been a fan of Demyx upon first arriving in Edge and noticing how the blonds' eyes had seemed to linger on Danni's frame when she wasn't aware. His biased dislike of the youngster had only been fed once it had been revealed the two were going out and pursuing a relationship. However, the blond had not been deterred by his intimidation. The Nobody had done all in his powers to protect Danni, even kill. It had been a few weeks since Axel had pulled him aside, asking him to give the younger Nobody a chance, telling him of what had transpired in the Organization's stronghold as proof of how serious Demyx was about Danni.

"Danni, c'mon Baby-doll, I need to speak with you…"

Danni sighed as she stood; maybe this was SOLDIER business after all. The young woman ducked under her past-mentor's arm as he held the door open for her. Her mind kept flashing back to Xemnas' words - if she was backtracking the timeline correctly, then that meant he had found his way into her office after leaving the Northern Crater - that alone implied he had known the damage he'd caused there. Which then brought her to another dilemma; did she tell any of them about Xemnas or simply keep her mouth shut? As a member of SOLDIER, she should most indefinitely report that an adversary - one of great concern - had gained access to the SOLDIER floor unnoticed. But as a girlfriend, she just wanted to protect Demyx from getting hurt any further. She knew how his thought process worked.

She'd seen how he allowed his feelings to rule his actions when faced with harm close to home. He'd wanted to go the Organization's stronghold and hurt Larxene after the incident at Seventh Heaven, the only thing that had stopped him from walking into that corner had been Zexion, he'd stopped him from summoning a portal to a certain trap. She didn't want to even risk Xemnas tearing him away.

"Are you alright?"

Danni looked around as she realized they'd stopped walking - she really needed to stop spacing out like that today. A quick glance around Angeal's frame allowed her to see two small sofas, a few armchairs and a small kitchen area alerted her to the fact that he'd led her into a staff lounge. How had he managed to find an empty one? Nine times out of ten, the lounges were full to the brim or one of the sofas held a sleeping staff member…usually Reno.

"Why's this place empty?"

"There's a sign on the door saying file archives - stop avoiding the question."

A small smile crossed her lips as she quickly understood the significance of the sign on the door - if there was one thing she certainly despised it was paperwork, Reno hated it with a vengeance also, he'd taken to accidentally knocking his stack of reports and mission evaluations into the shredder by his desk on the Turks' floor, or at least that was what Demyx had told her.

"I'm fine."

"Liar."

Angeal fought to keep a smirk from his face as Danni gave him a dangerous glare. If she thought she could simply wave away his question that easily, she really and truly underestimated him. Why was she being so defensive anyhow? She was like a daughter to him - whether she still realized that or not - he only wanted to be sure she was okay, he only had her best interests at heart. He was more than aware of her status as a 1st Class SOLDIER and as an adult, but did that mean he could no longer be concerned for her welfare?

The SOLDIER sighed as he walked around the side of one of the sofas, sitting heavily upon the edge of it, waiting for Danni to sit on the armchair directly across from him before speaking again.

"Why are you being so defensive? Danni, you know me; SOLDIER comes second to you. It always has and always will."

Now she felt guilty, guilty for holding him at arm's length with the last few weeks. Her mind unintentionally flashed back to their talk after she'd woken up in the medical wing, although then her internal heart ache had been due to the hold the loss of Zack had torn out of her heart. Not it was due to the loss of the situation weighing down heavily upon her shoulders.

"No matter how hard we fight, no matter how hard we try - he'll always find a way to come back - won't he?"

To anyone else he would simply avoid answering the question, choosing instead to dance around the question. But he saw the genuine shadow of hopelessness tinting the amethyst of her eyes. Even if he answered her question with a no, she'd see the lie all over his face. How someone could fall as from grace as hard as Sephiroth had, he would never know. Maybe it was better he didn't know in the long run; Sephiroth was no longer the man he had known. That man had been a determined member of SOLDIER, at times he may have even seemed arrogant and cold, bordering on heartless.

However, the SOLDIER had never been openly malicious. Sure, he had seen like a mean older man in Danni's eyes, but he had only wanted her to reach her full potential in the force. Whether she knew it or not, the public image of SOLDIER had prevented Hojo from harming her on several occasions throughout the years they'd all been on the same floor…but what did all that count for now? All those years accumulated to nothing.

"I would love noting more than to tell this is the last time, but I can't Danni. Odds are he will return and will continue to, but what else can we do? Bow down and allow him to win? If that happens then all those who've been killed along the way will have died in vain."

She knew he was right, but things were different this time. Not only had Sephiroth the three remnants behind him, but now the remaining members of Organization XIII, utilizing their stronghold and moving between worlds. This wasn't like the last time wherein Midgar had been the target - this threatened the lives of millions. SOLDIER could only stretch so far under that strain before snapping.

"But it's different this time. All those worlds, the remnants, the Organization - the Ancients even allowed Zack and Aerith back on the condition they do all they can to help prevent Jenova coming back - that means they believe her resurrection is a viable threat. How do we protect not only ourselves and Gaia, but all the other worlds and innocents from that kind of calamity?"

That was a valid point. It had crossed his mind on several occasions already, but he had always pushed it to the back of his thoughts, choosing instead to put all his energy and thoughts into trying to prevent Sephiroth's actions as opposed to worrying about the whats and ifs. Angeal also knew from experience that something else was bothering her, she was simply using this more evident reason as a means to release some pent up emotions.

"The real problem?"

Danni smiled lightly as he gave her that look - he wasn't going to allow her to wriggle out of this question, not this time. The real problem? How was she supposed to be anyway of a good mother when she couldn't even look after herself? How was she supposed to protect her baby when she hadn't even been able to protect herself the last time she'd found herself facing Sephiroth. She hated admitting it, but vivid flashes of that night still awoke her regularly at night, the small scars on her mid-drift and lower back twinging annoyingly. She could have been killed that night, the baby growing inside her right now could have been killed that night - how was she supposed to protect it once it was out of her womb? How was she going to protect Sephiroth or Xemnas from harming her baby and her family?

Danni stopped herself abruptly as she heard her own thoughts echoing in her head…family? Angeal and Zack were a part of it, no doubt there. But since when had that group's boundaries stretched? And how come it was shocking her now, it should have stretched a long time ago. Why had it taken so long to allow others into that group - Demyx was a part of it - a few more months and they would have their own family…that reality scared her deeply though.

"There's really no going back now…"

A confused stare was the only response to her lowly spoken words, a stare that asked her to continue in her explanation and save him from trying to figure out her meaning. There actually was no possible going back now. When she had first come to Edge months ago, she had been a kid. A kid working in a bar alongside her older brother's friend and hanging out with a few others her age - albeit only partially aware of their unique status of existence.

But things had changed so much in those few months and she was only realising that now. Danni couldn't be a kid anymore - she couldn't just float around between responsibilities anymore. She was about to get much more important responsibilities in only a few short months. She had to grow up and act more like a parent and SOLDIER than a teenager. She had to be an adult from here on in.

"Angeal, how am I supposed to look after a baby when I can't even look after myself?"

He'd guessed that had been the problem alright. Personally speaking, he did not have a child, nor did he have a particular want of one. It sounded heartless saying so, he knew that. But he knew the project he was a part of, he knew of his father's experiments and his own role as a two-way conduit - was it fair to pass that stigmatic legacy onto an innocent child? Danni had brought him to that conclusion. Being appointed her in-company guardian had opened his eyes to the trials and tribulations parents faced. She had gone between her parents and ShinRa from birth.

Being told he had to care for a mere infant had not been his idea of an ideal mission. He'd had sleepless nights followed by early mornings. It had annoyed him to no end for the first few weeks - while Sephiroth and Genesis had been spending time in the simulation room or out on separate missions, he'd been playing the not too enjoyable role of surrogate Daddy. He had been a 1st Class SOLDIER - childcare had not been a part of the job description.

But then - in the throws of another late night wake-up call - he had realised that the crying baby girl in his arms had been thrown into a game; one that she couldn't possibly play by herself. The job of helping her had been his, if he didn't protect her, then no one else would. He'd watched her grow up, going through mako infusions and rigorous training, suffering from bouts of mako poisoning and being dragged away from her parents time after time.

"I may not have ground to speak, considering I am not a father, but you put me through hell Danni Fair."

Danni laughed in spite of herself as he met her eyes wit one of the most honest expressions she had ever seen cross his face.

"I'm deadly serious. For the first few weeks, you were the bane of my existence. I guess it didn't help that I was a young man and childcare hadn't been in the job description. But then realization had - for want of a better explanation - kicked me in the ass. All those doubts you're having, they're normal Danni. You will make an amazing mother, Demyx an amazing father. You're both young, but made for each other."

His words quelled the sickening twist in her stomach, a heavy weight slipped from her shoulders as she smiled, feeling a tiny bit self-conscious despite her relief…it was just odd hearing Angeal refer to her as a Mom, Danni silently berated herself for not confiding in Angeal sooner. She took a second to consider her next words, deciding that unless she confided in someone she would allow it to eat her asunder.

"Promise me nothing I say will go further than this room?"

"Of course."

"Xemnas was here…in my office - **_Angeal_** - you promised!"

And that right there was exactly the reaction she'd been hoping to avoid. Danni groaned as she stumbled over the coffee table and around the edge of the sofa where Angeal had been sitting, banging her leg edge of the small wooden table as she tried to beat him to the door. It wasn't to go further than this room, he'd promised. She didn't want anyone else to know, if they did then so would Demyx when he woke up, then the crap would utterly hit the fan. She had only just allowed the realization that she and Demyx were going to have their own family, she didn't want to start one with him already out of the picture.

"Angeal, he didn't do anything…he was just trying unsettle things. He told me I could either tell Demyx he'd been here or keep it to myself. If Demyx finds out he was here, then he'll go to their Stronghold - Xemnas wants that, he'll kill him…"

The pleading in her eyes made his hand freeze around the door handle, maybe she had a point. Especially when one considered Demyx's last escapade to the Organization's base, though she didn't know of that certain visit. But it did not deny the severity of what she had just said. Xemnas was an adversary and a dangerous one at that. At this moment in time he was being placed directly after Sephiroth on SOLDIERs awareness; the remnants were tricky no doubt, but they could manage them.

"He left, Angeal. What's telling anyone going to do…please?"

His hand slowly released the door handle as he back tracked a few paces, bending to the young woman's pleas. Lazard would want to deploy several SOLDIERs to the Nobodies' world, for whatever use that would be. Not to mention if Tseng knew of it, he would almost indefinitely want to set up a defence with the Nobodies under his command. Doing so would only lead to more injuries, if not fatalities.

"Okay. It stays quiet this time, however, anything else happens and I'll take action."

Danni sighed with relief as she walked back towards the sofa, rubbing just above her left knee as it throbbed rhythmically; a bruise already forming where she had struck the table…it was a stupid place to put a coffee table anyhow. She was taking a day off after all this. A day off where she was going to either spend a day hanging out in Seventh Heaven or shopping…she had absolutely nothing bought for the baby yet. She had seen Tifa and Cloud turning her old bedroom into a nursery, seen Yuffie with bags upon bags of newly bought baby clothes, while Elena had been taking increasingly more time off lately. And she'd done nothing yet. Danni's hand shot to her back pocket as she suddenly recalled the sheet of paper she had stuffed in there following Xemnas' appearance in her office.

"Demyx got Alex Yamamoto's Turk file…just don't tell Tseng that."

* * *

"Can't you even speak to me?"

A stony and cold silence was his answer. She didn't even grace him with a dangerous flash of his crystal-like blue eyes. If he had known this morning, what revelations and turns the day would take, he would have most certainly stayed in bed and rang in ill or something. He hadn't even been given the opportunity of ducking out of going to Mickey's Castle - Zexion had foreseen his intentions and had made sure to grab his arm and force him through the portal first.

What a perfect way to pop back up into someone's life after an absence of four months - hi, we need your powers - what made matters worse was the promise he'd made to her just prior to dropping off radar; that he'd never leave her. Kairi certainly had not been all too happy to see him, it hadn't helped his situation when he'd explained he and Zexion were only there because they required the use of Naminé's powers…the Princess of Heart had displayed a rather violent side he hadn't even been aware she'd possessed; the stinging red mark on his left cheek served as a painful reminder never to underestimate her again.

"What exactly do you need me for and why?"

Roxas took a breath to answer but quickly stopped himself as he realised he wasn't the target of her query, Zexion was. He had expected shouts, insults, anger, but not stone cold silence. At least he could deal with that, but what could he say to silence? They youngest nobody frowned as he looked to Zexion for an answer also, noticing a somewhat guilty gleam to his eyes. That in itself set him on edge. Zexion was not one to take the blame in a matter, not was he one to allow anything to affect him on a personal level.

"Zexion?"

The agreement had been to permanently block, if not fully remove those recollections. Either way, Demyx was never supposed to recall anything from before awaking in the World That Never Was. It had been an agreement between all the founding members of the Organization, a small consideration as to whose son he was. None of the other past-apprentices had outwardly withed to eliminate the only one who had not become a member of Organization XIII. He had never spoken of the man to the others since that night, with the exception of a few off times with Lexaeus and Xigbar; both times their conversations had ended once the Melodious Nocturne had appeared in the vicinity.

However, neither Lexaeus nor Xigbar had ever expressed a want to punish Daken before Demyx joining ranks. Having said that, he still could not be fully sure as to their opinions on the matter. He had worked alongside the man, though back then, he had been a different person than who he had been in the Organization, but he was slowly gaining back his former self since breaking ranks. When Daken had rejected the concept of Organization XIII; rejecting a part in its founding, he had felt some distaste and betrayal towards the man - he had simply and so easily chosen to walk away from all the years they'd spent researching - but looking back on it now and bearing in mind the road down which Xemnas had lead the Organization, maybe Daken had been right to walk away when he did?

Xemnas had not informed them of what the mission had been that night, simply ordering all founding members to accompany him, while anyone who had joined the ranks since then to remain at the Stronghold. They'd all followed blindly, not bothering to question their Superior's wishes. He had followed blindly too, laying all his trust in Xemnas - something he wished he had had more sense than to do now. He hadn't noticed anything peculiar about the mission that night, but hindsight was a marvellous thing.

Surprise, or more so the pretending of such, had been one way of explaining his reaction to stepping through that portal and finding himself staring at a familiar past face, watching him standing before two young boys and a woman holding a baby while countless others had stared at them…

"Xemnas went back on an agreement."

* * *

She could tell from the look of surprise in his eyes that this was news to him also. Which informed her that if he did not know, then it was highly unlikely that Genesis knew either? If that were the case, confusion and shock were in store for a lot more people, not just Angeal and her.

"Does he know?"

Angeal shook his head slowly; he doubted it. Doubted it to an almost certain degree. It was news to him, something he certainly had not seen coming. He had wondered about Alex's reasons for leaving ShinRa, but this certainly hadn't been one of the explanations he had formulated. As far as he knew, Alex had not spoken to Genesis since he had left ShinRa, choosing SOLDIER over her. She would have had no means of contacting him once the force had dropped of the radar. Also, if Genesis had known, this was something he would have indefinitely spoken to him of.

Maybe that could work in their favour though. He didn't mean to take anything from Genesis character as a SOLDIER and man, but he was not one for commitment. He wasn't aware of what Angeal had just discovered by reading Alex's file, so that meant he could back the other into a corner without Genesis realising he was being trapped in.

* * *

Roxas stopped as Zexion refused to elaborate. The blond shot the older nobody a dangerous glare as he repositioned himself in front of Zexion, barring him from going any further without an explanation. What did he mean an agreement? And with Xemnas? Did that mean Zexion was still playing both sides of the fence? He was one of the founding members of the Organization; would he really be so quick as to abandon the Organization he had helped to create?

For the first time since breaking ranks, Roxas felt genuinely threatened; caught between wanting to trust someone he had come to recognise as a friend, and trusting his gut feeling. What about Naminé? Organization XIII had been searching for her since her and Kairi had been separated, she had been safe at Mickey's castle…had bringing her here literally handed her to Zexion - to the Organization?

The thirteenth nobody took several steps backwards as he summoned Oathkeeper and Oblivion, making sure to place himself between Zexion and Naminé. He was confused and taking no chances.

"Us or them? Make your decision, Zexion."

He should have foreseen Roxas' conclusion. His words regarding Xemnas had not been the clearest in their meaning. Coupled with being a founder, it made Roxas' conclusion the evident one. However, it did not placate his disgust and anger at being accused of betraying them. Leaving with the others had not been a decision he had made easily. He had always ad a strong sense of loyalty towards Xemnas - he had been the one to disagree with Ansem the Wise in regards to the extent of their research - his loyalty to the Superior stemmed all the way back to when they had been Ienzo and Xehanort. But there had only been so much he could stomach without admitting to himself that there had to be a different path to follow. They had all followed Xemnas blindly into defeat; he was not walking into it again.

"Do you honestly want to test me on this, Roxas?"

He didn't get any reply. He passively noticed the younger nobody's frame tense up in preparation of a battle. He seriously was not in the mood for this, not when it wasn't called for. He had not betrayed them. He had come to count the other four as friends, something which he had only spitefully admitted to himself at first. He had not needed something as childish as friends had whilst in the Organization, before then he had had close colleagues, but never something, he had classed as friends. So why did he need them now?

"I have not betrayed any of you. You have no idea of the decision I was faced with, I chose to side with you and the others, not Xemnas. Xemnas went back on an agreement made between the founding members of the Organization. Do you really wish to pin your abilities against mine?"

He may not have been one for dirtying his own hands, but Zexion knew the extent of his abilities. Roxas' fighting style was formidable by itself, but he did still have a chink in his armour. Firstly Roxas' somebody was still living, if push came to shove it was rather simple to play on that, mess around with some memories, bring other hidden fears to light. Then there was Naminé, she was his ultimate weakness. But he didn't necessarily want to expose any of those weaknesses. He and Roxas were on the same side of the fight. Zexion watched as the younger nobody's keyblades lower an inch or two; it was enough to tell him Roxas was hesitant to cross blows with him.

Xemnas had gone back on the agreement and now it was left to him to explain things on this side. How did he even start though, this was something which was never meant to be spoken of or explained. But what about once Demyx came to? He still wasn't sure by what had happened at the Northern Crater, but judging by what Reno had told Axel and the current state the blond was in, he could only assume Xemnas had not permanently blocked nor removed his recollections of before the Organization. Right now, the previous number nine was lost in his own overflow of memories. Naminé had the ability to control Sora's memories and those linked to him, it was a long shot, but since breaking ranks, they had all been working with the Keyblade master. He only hoped that that constituted as being linked to him, otherwise he was out of ideas regarding Demyx.

He still had to explain though, Roxas had lowered his keyblades somewhat, but there was still wariness in his eyes and fear in Naminé's. He had never expected to have to explain this though. It was something all the founding members had silently agreed to forget. He was not proud of the role he had played that night. If anything, he felt regret and guilt for his actions under Xemnas back then.

"The founding members of Organization XIII were originally apprentices studying under Ansem the Wise, which much you know. What you do not know is there was another apprentice. One that denied any part in the Organization's founding and fled from Radiant Garden when we banished Ansem to the Realm of Darkness. After the Organization was established and had gained several new members, Xemnas summoned all the founding members for a mission, ordering any other members to remain at the stronghold."

Zexion sighed as he stared at the ceiling of the corridor for a moment or two, that was the easy part explained. Roxas was already aware of ninety percent of what he had just said, the only new piece of information being another apprentice. How was he supposed to explain the next part without pointing some of the blame on himself? It wasn't that he did not believe he was partially to blame, but he had been a different person six years ago, or so to speak. Back then, he had followed Xemnas' wishes and orders without a second thought; he knew now how blind he had been.

"The portal led to a crowded beach, it was night and there was a festival of sorts on. We controlled the Heartless back then also; they and the Dusk attacked the crowds, separating Daken and his family. He had a wife and some kids, a family we had not been aware even existed. Somehow, the woman and the other two kids managed to slip through the dusks and others, probably thanks to the crowds on the beach. There was a boy left with Daken, he tried to protect him, hiding the kid behind him. He begged Xemnas to leave him be, he begged us all to leave his home world alone. Then begged for his son to be allowed to leave."

Why had this heaviness never bothered him before? Never once had he felt this dull ache while a part of the Organization. The more he explained, the worse he was feeling. Why hadn't he seen wrong in their actions that night? Why hadn't he helped Daken - the man he had worked alongside for years - he had simply looked down his nose at the man trying to protect his son and family. Why hadn't he opened a portal and broken ranks back then? Why had he just stood there and smirked? Zexion leaned back against the wall of the corridor as he shook his head, disgusted at his own past actions.

"We all watched as Xemnas killed him, the boy watched also. Xemnas spared the kid, I do not know why; it certainly was not to abide by Daken's wishes for him to be spared. He spared him as another stab against the only apprentice who had not wished to become a nobody, instead turning his son into one…that was six years ago."

Roxas allowed Oathkeeper and Oblivion to fall from his grip, the pair instantly melting into the air before connecting with the floor. Realization crept over him like icy cold water as he recalled what Demyx had told him months ago regarding what he remembered from before the Organization…lots of people screaming and panicking, black creatures with glowing yellow eyes…he had told Danni he'd been in the Organization for six years. Was the boy Zexion spoke about Demyx? Roxas looked up as the older nobody spoke, as if reading his unspoken question.

"They boy from six years ago is Demyx."

* * *

**_A/N: I'll try and update again soon huns - thanks!_**


	40. Loss

_**A/N: Hey there huns - sorry for the wait - school's kinda hectic at the moment. I'm using all my free classes to study and do homework, so kinda on a little hiatus right now :P**_

* * *

"Mom! Dad!"

People pushed and shoved on either side of him, he struggled to keep his footing as the flow of people tried to push him backwards, he needed to find his parents. Painful elbows jammed and jarred him from side to side as more strange creatures materialized. Low sized black creatures sunk up from dark patches in the sand, while taller white creatures weaved and danced between the fleeing crowd. He still wasn't sure what had happened. People had been laughing and enjoying the annual beach party. He'd come first in the surfing tournament earlier, but everything had gone wrong. He had been one of the first to see those men step from the dark windows and now those creatures were striking down people around him.

Panic had taken hold quickly, throngs of people were all trying to flee at the same time and in different directions. Someone had pushed past him and he had lost sight of his parents, he'd heard his Dad's voice shouting a few minutes ago, but he still couldn't find him through the jostling crowd. What about his brother and sister? Were they still with his Mom?

"Ty! Aisling - ah!"

The damp, cold sand felt as hard as concrete against his shoulder; knocked from his feet by someone more desperate to escape the beach. The breath left his lungs in a gasp as icy-cold water swept over him; a wave breaking along the beach as the confusion and chaos raged on.

* * *

Everything the older nobody had gone through had been nothing but a way to seek revenge on a grudge. Xemnas _**had**_ given the more trying missions to Demyx, knowing he wouldn't be capable of completing them. He had pitched him against Sora, more than aware of the likely outcome. Xemnas had been toying with him all along.

"All along…every mission, every punishment…Xemnas knew."

Shock quickly gave way to anger as Roxas realised just how much was at risk. Xemnas would never simply relinquish his hold over Demyx. He would always strive to reclaim him. Where would that leave Danni and their baby? Xemnas had, in a sense, taken Demyx freedom from him, as a strike against his father. What about the baby Danni was carrying? Would the Superior do the same to that baby? The blond spun on Zexion as a sense of vulnerability and frustration took hold.

"You knew about this! What about their baby?!"

"Baby?"

Roxas stopped short at Naminé's puzzled tone. She didn't know. The only reason the Organization knew was because of that SOLDIER who had leaked information to Xemnas. No one else knew. Not Sora. Not Riku. Not Kairi. None of them. It wasn't for him to say, it was for either Danni or Demyx to announce. But right now he was still stunned by Zexion's revelation and angry at the older nobody for keeping it a secret for so long. He had always wondered why Demyx had been given mission that even Lexaeus would have struggled to complete successfully. Ever since they had broken ranks, Xemnas had focused his wrath on Demyx…if Zexion had told him and the others, then maybe they could have done something, anything before now.

"Demyx has a girlfriend…she's three months pregnant, Naminé. I swear, Zexion…if anything happens to Danni or that child, it'll be on your head - "

"Back down…you forget yourself, Roxas. I did not orchestrate any of this. Of course I regret what has happened, but I can't take that back, no matter how much I want to. Don't you dare speak down to me, you have no idea what the Organization was like back then, why do you think it was such a decision for me to even side with you and leave?"

He had no clue. Not the slightest. He had always gotten off lightly due to being Sora's other. He had come along when the Organization had been levelling out; setting its sights on Kingdom Hearts. He had not the first iota of what things had been like, especially after Demyx's inception.

After that, everything had changed. An unspoken law of obedience to the Superior. They had seen first hand what he would do to anyone who stepped out of line, be they past or present. Daken had been a friend and work colleague for many years. That had counted for nothing in the end. Taken had thought himself free and safe, cushioned by the years that had passed since Radiant Garden. But Xemnas had still found and punished him in the end.

Bearing witness to what had happened to Daken had served to keep all the founding members strictly in line in the years afterwards. Or at least up until Sora had defeated the Organization. After that, a small questioning voice has inched its way into his head, questioning Xemnas' ideals and orders. Noticing the slightly unusual absences of a few other members. But one thing had always caused him to stand by the Superior - the knowing that he could track any nobody that crossed him down and seek revenge for their betrayal. But was living in safety actually living when you knew it wasn't right?

"Xemnas tracked Daken down years after he left Radiant Garden. Put yourself in my shoes, Roxas. You watched him kill your past friend, you watched him turn an innocent teenager into a nobody for no other reason but revenge. And now you have to decide to stay where you are in; safe. Or do you do the right thing and break ranks, knowing that he can track you down at any time, any place, present or future?"

* * *

Screaming started, somewhere, amongst the countless people. One person, then another, then more than he cared to count. More of those strange creatures darted and danced around the sand, terrorising people who thought they were escaping. His hands shot over his head as someone almost trampled him. More figures stumbled past before he managed to reclaim his footing.

"It appears Daken has been keeping secrets…"

The strong, but yet eerily empty voice chilled him more than the icy cold wave. He looked up slowly, haunting yellow eyes boring into him, holding his own gaze in place, stopping him from fleeing like the others. The tall, tanned male made his insides crawl, the calmness of his stare belying nothing of what he wanted. Something told him those strange creatures were his doing.

"Leave him - Myde, find your mother."

He scrambled backwards on the sand, using the palms of his hands to back up before slamming forcefully to what he assumed were a person's legs. Piercing blue eyes bore into him, one half hidden behind unruly bangs of steely blue-grey hair. He wasn't getting past him, that much he knew.

"I can't…Dad, who's he?"

* * *

Roxas averted his eyes as Zexion's piercing blue ones locked onto him, shame threatening to light up his cheeks. Maybe he shouldn't have acted that way, but he was still in shock here. The blond took a breath to word a half-apology but stopped himself as he looked past Zexion's shoulder, eyes landing on the silent figures of Danni and Angeal.

An uneasy second passed before Zexion looked hesitantly back over his shoulder. This wasn't how he had wanted Danni to find out. This way, she would see him as a liar and a friend who had betrayed them. He considered her a close friend, she had been one of the only people he had ever met who had not been phased by the explanation of nobodies. In her eyes they were all equal. He hadn't betrayed them, he wouldn't.

"Danni…I haven't betrayed anyone, I wouldn't. It was six years ago, things were different th- "

Zexion's words were cut short as a sharp slap stung at the air. She wanted to be angry at him. She wanted to blame him for what had happened to Demyx. The look in his eyes told her he was also expecting the blame. But it wasn't his fault, not solely. He was a friend, a close one. She still wanted someone to blame this mess on though. Roxas' words frightened her. She did not want to constantly look over her shoulder, expecting Xemnas to emerge from a portal and shatter her family.

She didn't want to turn around some day and find that chilling man standing over her child or Demyx. One thing she was undeniably angry and hurt about was the fact that Zexion had neglected to tell any of the them about this before. She realised she had no right to question the decisions of years passed, but he still shouldn't have ignored his own knowledge. He had pulled Demyx outside of the medical ward after Larxene, she had heard them, whether they knew that or not. She had heard him ask Demyx what he had done to Xemnas, pointing out that it had been a personal attack. He had known why then.

Danni ignored the prickly and stinging sensation across the palm of her hand as Zexion kept his gaze trained to the floor, not reacting to her slap. She side-stepped Angeal's arms as he tried to pull her back, expecting her to try and land another blow. Instead, she wrapped her shaking arms around his neck, whispering lowly as silent tears made tracks down her cheeks.

"You should have told him, Zexion."

Why wasn't she yelling at him? Why wasn't she blaming him? It was his fault…he had stood there and watched everything unfold. He had watched an innocent man suffer for trying to protect his son. He deserved any blame thrown his way. But then why did he feel so relieve hearing her words. She wasn't blaming him, she was upset and scared, but not angry. He wasn't sure why, but her words and gesture of friendship had more of an impact on him than he would have expected. Nobodies didn't have friends, it complicated things. But right now it was something to lean on. He didn't care how insecure that sounded.

* * *

"I gave you a warning, you made your decision."

The silver haired man kept staring at his Dad. They were speaking but he couldn't hear them clearly, the crashing of waves and screams of running people drowned out their words. Taller, black clad figures stood around. Each standing firmly, most of their heads hooded and faces hidden in the shade. The black and white creatures remained outside of the men; terrorising any locals still attempting to flee the beach. He still couldn't see his Mom or siblings, maybe they'd gotten home or away?

"I have said nothing, done nothing and won't ever do anything against you…leave this place, Xehanort."

"Your son?"

"Don't harm him, please. I'll go with you, just leave him be."

He watched on, stunned, as his father stepped fully between him and the strange man. His blood ran cold as the man laughed dryly, a red flash momentarily blinded him before his Dad fell to the sand. Then silence. All the locals had fled from the beach. All the strange creatures were gone. The six black-clad men still surrounding him. Why wasn't his Dad getting back up? What were those red blades the silver-haired man held?

"D-Dad?"

No response, only a small hollow laugh from that man. He felt the sand slip under his hands as he scrambled forwards…but then everything froze. The men, the crashing waves, the salty breeze, it all froze.

_"Demyx."_

He knew that name, he wasn't sure how or why, but it was familiar. Just as familiar as the girl's voice that spoke it. A young woman stood alone on the sand behind the man with messy, steely-blue hair. Bright blond hair, crisp blue eyes and a soft voice…he knew this girl. He knew her name but it kept escaping his grasp.

"When you remember one thing, that leads to remembering another and then another. But sometimes the reconnecting chains mend too fast for the heart to deal with so suddenly. Demyx, Danni's waiting."

He stood slowly, glancing from the men to the smiling young women. Her name began with an N, that much he knew. He trusted her, something told him he had to, if not then he would fall like his Dad did. His Dad…why wasn't he moving yet? Why hadn't he gotten back up - was he hurt? Was he walking away from his Dad when he was injured? He should go back…

"Demyx, what is more important? Your past or your present?"

"Na…Naminé?"

He flinched as images flashed across his mind, the most prevalent being a young woman with long black hair and amethyst eyes smiling at him. to show the blond girl still standing opposite him, only much closer than she had been. Before he had time to react, her hand had closed around his wrist. But what about his Dad? His Mom? Ty and Aishling…what if they were hurt too? A dull ache developed in his chest as his vision cleared; his Dad wasn't going to get up, was he? That meant that man…

"_**Bastard!**_"

Danni jumped unintentionally as Demyx sat bolt upright, panic written all over his features, along with confusion. His eyes darted wildly as the surrounding room only served to deepen his confusion. She frowned as his eyes locked onto Zexion, an uneasy moment dragged past before reality clicked back into place.

"You son of a bitch!"

Several people reacted at once as Demyx shot forward in a blind rage. Naminé ducked behind Roxas' taller frame as the bed linen was haphazardly cast her way. Axel grabbed a hold of the enraged blond, half wrestling and half throwing him back onto the mattress, while Marluxia roughly shoved Zexion out the door before all hell broke loose.

"Get off! I'll kill him!"

Danni acted quickly as Demyx tried to stand again, using her body's weight to stop him. She knew why he wanted to hurt Zexion, but he had only just remembered the role the other nobody had played in his past. He needed to calm down and think about things properly, then he would realise it was not Zexion's fault. She understood, she more than understood. Sephiroth's three brothers had attacked her home, killed her parents, she hated him. Despised his existence for it, but she could not run head long into a fight. The last time she had been against him, it had not ended well. It still frightened her, knowing now that she had been pregnant then scared her immensely.

"Demyx - Demyx, stop!"

She struggled for another moment before he relented, she passively noted the click of the door closing behind her; the others had left, giving them some privacy - for that she was thankful. Her heart panged painfully as she watched loss fill his eyes as memory after memory pieced itself back together. What was he supposed to do? One of his friends had been there the night his father had been murdered, he had been there. Everything he was now, it was simply a further stab at his father - he was a pawn of revenge…Danni fought back her own tears as she watched her boyfriend's fists ball up the linen of his bed, clutching the material until his knuckles matched their white hue. He was trying so hard not to give in, but he was only human, like anyone else. She wrapped her arms around him, his head leaning against her chest as tears rolled freely down his face.

"I was there, Danni. I watched Xemnas kill him…"

* * *

_**A/N: Just a small note - Aishling is a girl's name, it's Irish for dream and is pronounced "Ash-Ling". I'll try to update sooner than it took me this time. Let me know what you thought, I'm kinda iffy on it tbh, but not sure why.**_


	41. Damage Control

**_A/N: Heya huns, sorry for the long wait, school is hectic - it's still a little short, but I promise the next will be longer!_**

* * *

Danni sighed as she watched him pace aimlessly, mumbling and cursing beneath his breath. He was allowed to be angry and confused. But not reckless. Not when Xemnas was probably relying on that. He could even decide to turn the ShinRa building into a game of hide and seek with Zexion for all she cared. Actually, she did mind. Zexion may have played a part in what had happened to Demyx and his Dad, but she was not willing to allow someone else to be harmed because of Xemnas.

People change, but their pasts don't. Zexion had done nothing but fight their corner and try to make sense of seemingly senseless situations. He was the one who had been of most help since joining the Turks; knowing how to work the computers in Radiant Garden and access the memory banks.

She watched for another few moments before swinging her feet up and crossing them on the bed beneath her. Much more pacing and he would have a track worn out on the floor. His small show of emotion had quickly been replaced with anger and confusion, leaving her exasperated and on edge. If he wanted to go, then he could go. However, she was not about to leave him any illusions as to what would happen if he did.

"Go if you want to. But I won't be here if you get back."

He could stare all he wanted, that was the truth. She understood his anger and confusion - along with his frustration - but being stupid would not fix anything. It would just allow Xemnas to win, again. If he was going to set about revenge, she didn't want a part of it. She didn't want to any future repercussions for their child.

* * *

Zack frowned as he looked around the Brief room. The President was there, as were Tseng, the Director, Angeal and Kunsel. He still didn't know why all the Organization Turks and 1st Classes had been recalled. Nobody had explained matters to him yet. They'd all arrived back and scattered, leaving him standing on his own in confusion. He had gotten back to discover Zexion and Roxas looking for a witch, something having happened to Demyx, while Angeal had been speaking with Danni.

"Xemnas was at the Northern Crater. Do you recall the incident in Costa del Sol? The one ShinRa initially got the blame for; it was just prior to Sephiroth killing your father."

Rufus sat back against the edge of a workstation, crossing his arms across his chest as he thought back. Tseng's words rang bells, vague ones. However, he did remember some sort of incident taking place in Costa del Sol. The resort was used frequently for staff vacations. For that reason, ShinRa had always had tight ties to the location. Monitoring any reports made in case they somehow pointed back towards or an enemy of the company.

He remembered the incident now that he thought about it. It was one of the last notable happenings in Costa del Sol before Meteor Fall. ShinRa had gotten the blame. Despite knowing, they had nothing to do with it; the company had still initiated a search and investigation but had turned up nothing. To this day, many youngsters in Costa del Sol still went out of their way to make hassle for the company. The locals still blamed the attack on ShinRa. There were several files in the databanks containing photos and profiles of particularly troublesome individuals.

"Mmm. The one where the Scientist was killed and the kid went missing."

"The kid is no longer missing."

Zack furrowed his eyebrows, looking from the President to Tseng and back again. He frowned in response to the cryptic explanation before slowly connecting the dots. He knew a little about that incident, he had been watching some of the Turks on about it when he'd been in the limbo-ish state. How did finding a kid have anything to do with why they had all been called back though? How could one kid be the cause for everything now being in an unmerciful heap of confusion?

"Demyx…the ages match up. So do the basic features, it would explain a few things."

Now he blinked at Rufus' words, slowly copping on as he and Tseng continued to talk between themselves. Were they for real? This was Demyx they were talking about. The lanky blond with a penchant for having bad luck, the youngster he adored to annoy - his little sister's boyfriend - the guy who would be the Dad of his niece or nephew…and now he was some kid from Gaia who had gone missing years before? Maybe he was wrong. Maybe he was totally out and had missed something. But maybe he hadn't either…Zack groaned as he felt the onset of a migraine.

"Look, can someone just explain it from the start?"

* * *

"Save me?"

"On your own, hun."

Axel feigned a frown as Sandra tried to hide a smile by chewing on the top of her pen, eyes purposely paying hollow attention to the computer screen in front of her. He smirked childishly and lay his head down on the reception counter as she continued to appear busy. He wasn't going away without a fight. The nobody frowned even more prominently, putting on his best-exaggerated puppy-dog eyes as he inched forwards to the edge of the high reception desk and pouted. He smiled as a grin fought its way through her unimpressed façade - he won.

"You're gonna get me into trouble some day!"

Axel shrugged his shoulders, standing to his full height again, and winking at a few of Sandra's co-workers. He wanted to laugh aloud as the younger of the two girls blushed before quickly turning away and whispering to her friend. He did not remember seeing either of them around before. He may not have been here as long as other staff members, but he now had a couple of months under his belt and was confidant he knew most of the ShinRa employees, or at least if not by name then by face. He was certain he hadn't seen these two girls around before though. He assumed they were in on experience or trial period. Both were younger then him, even a little younger than Danni.

A sharp prod to the arm from the end of his girlfriend's pen immediately caused him to look back to her. A small sliver of anger present in her warm hazel eyes as she shot the two trainees a warning glare.

"Hey now - eyes on me."

Sandra sighed as the two younger girls went back to their work. They were only here two weeks and already they were wearing down on her patience. The were not mature enough to pull their weight within the company. Receptionists and secretaries of ShinRa were - figuratively speaking - on the front line. They dealt with the Press, conferences, meetings, schedules, associates, complaints, reports and public speeches on a daily basis. She was here a few years; she had applied shortly after the ShinRa building had been rebuilt in Edge. She knew how much stuff got thrown their way. She doubted very much if either of these two girls would make the cut.

She hoped they didn't, as unprofessional as that sounded it was the honest truth. The two spent their time gossiping and giggling. Along with fan-girling over some of the Turks. Emily - one of the older secretaries - had taken it upon herself to inform the girls of where boundaries lay. Telling them who was strictly off limits; Demyx had a girlfriend in SOLDIER, Zexion was rumoured to have a girlfriend outside of ShinRa, Roxas was in a long term and complicated relationship, while Axel was strictly off limits.

Sandra smiled lightly to herself as she thought over that for a second. Reno and Axel…the two of them were as slippery as soap - the kinda soap a girl could lather herself up in. Particularly Axel. Reno was a player, which was no secret. He flirted with any girl in the company, but most were aware of his slippery status and tended to humour his advances. It was because of him that she'd initially steered clear of his younger brother. She'd figured Axel would be just like his brother in that aspect also. Weeks of Axel continuously asking her out had led to her co-workers setting up a date. Sandra blinked, as she was jolted from her reminiscing, a light peck on the cheek and a cheeky smirk before he answered her obvious question.

"Just letting some people know that you're taken…now are you going to save me or not?"

"Depends on what I'm saving you from…"

"Pissed off Demyx, moody and broody Zexion, stressed out Roxas…and then Marluxia's in there somewhere trying to keep the peace for the time-being."

One thing about having a Nobody as a boyfriend; you were never in for a dull day. She already had the appearances and abilities of the remaining Organization members drilled into her long-term memory. That was something he had made sure she knew. He'd seen Larxene come after Danni because she was with Demyx, he didn't want that to happen to Sandra.

"How come their all like that?"

Axel chanced a glance at the two gossiping girls before looking back to Sandra, making a decision. He'd tell her lately. Right now, only the Turk floor and the SOLDIER floor knew of the significance of Zexion's revelation. One thing the President did not want was for it to leak to the public. What had happened to Demyx's father was not ShinRa's fault. But it didn't look well to have the child who had been classed as missing and possibly dead, suddenly show up under ShinRa employment.

"I'll tell you after work."

* * *

Danni watched him pacing again, vehemently cursing Xemnas and Zexion. She did not agree with the titles he was bestowing upon his fellow Turk. But she was not about to contest his choice of words and accusations right now. She would wait until he had calmed down and wasn't acting so rash. She spoke quickly as she noticed his weight shifting, eyes turning back to the still-open portal.

"I mean it. Go through that and you'll be signing your own death warrant, Demyx."

"And what about it?!"

She bit back a snappy retort. Arguing right now would not alleviate the situation nor help matters; it would add stress and complicate things further. However, he now had no concern for his own safety. That hurt her. Was he seriously willing to disregard common sense for the slim chance of revenge? Why did things have to be so damn complicated when it came to her?

Look at Yuffie and Vincent, two of the most unlikely people to get together, but they worked. Here she was trying to digest what Zexion had revealed and hold something together. She understood, she did. But what was more important? The past or the present? She didn't know, she wished she did. All she knew right now, if he went through that portal, she would not see him again.

"I swear Demyx…if you leave me here on my own with a baby to raise, I'll never forgive you."

Danni sighed as she lay back across the bed, closing her eyes as the twisting and uncurling sensation of nausea caused her stomach to churn unsettlingly. He'd told her earlier that things would be fine, that there was nothing to worry about. And now his words were kicking them all up the ass. She just wanted everything to be normal, everything, just for once. Right now, she just wanted her Mom. She wanted her Mom more than she'd wanted her in the last few months. She wanted to talk things through with her, to know that she wasn't disappointed or angry for being made a Grandmother so early. She wanted her Mom to come and tell her it would all be okay.

Anger dissipated along with the portal he had summoned, guilt settling like lead in his gut as he watched tears roll silently back across her cheeks and into her dark hair. He'd done that. Those tears were his fault. Xemnas or Danni?

She still didn't look up as the mattress sagged beneath his weight, nor did she when his arm found its way beneath her neck. She sniffed lightly, resting her head in the crook of his arm against his chest as he kissed her forehead.

* * *

_**A/N: Thanks!**_


	42. Loose Ends

_**A/N: Umm...hi...I am still alive :P I'm really really sorry for the age that's passed since I last updated. School's been so hectic, I'd end up writing a whole novel if I tried to tell you guys. I haven't got much free time anymore, I've school Monday to Friday, work on Thursday and Saturday, boxing training on Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday...and then I sleep on Sundays :P I have the next chapter or two of this fic worked out on paper, and some outlines for updates in other fics, I'll try and get them up some time in the near future :)**_

* * *

For being such a central building, ShinRa's headquarters was painfully cold in the mornings. Danni was definitely complaining to Lazard when she saw him next. That was another factor leading to her deep hatred of the early start. She got it every fourth week, but it still haunted her despite. It was twice as bad when she had to leave while Demyx was still asleep and had hours left to sleep. It dampened her spirits knowing that at this time last week, she had still been fast asleep. At least it only lasted the week, after that the early start switched to Zack.

"Hey there, Squirt…"

Danni reckoned Kunsel lived at the ShinRa building lately. He seemed to spend more time there than even the President. Nevertheless, he was welcome company on a freezing morning.

"Hey Kunsel, Angeal gone long?"

Kunsel nodded, keeping his eyes glued to the sheets of paper strewn over the desk he sat at. Angeal had headed off almost two hours ago. He'd said something about having somewhere to go about sorting something out…he hadn't really been listening. Angeal hadn't elaborated and he hadn't questioned where the SOLDIER was going, he had still been trying to work out a schedule for the simulation room. The Turks wanted in on the simulation room lately to train their rookies. That had not been an issue back in Midgar, the Turks had operated under field missions for their rookies, but now with the way everything was between Sephiroth and the public's tentative trusting of ShinRa, it was not wise to run fieldwork for Turk rookies. Working out a schedule to please both the Turks and SOLDIER was proving to be a much trickier task than he had first thought.

"Yup, almost two hours ago, not sure where he went though. Any news?"

Danni shook her head as another shiver ran down her spine; tiny goose bumps spread across her exposed arms and shoulders as her body tried to heat up. Not much had happened in the last two weeks. Roxas had seemed to work things out with Naminé; she had seen the blonde girl a handful of times since she'd stumbled upon Zexion's revelation. Things were still extremely odd and uncomfortable when it came to Zexion and Demyx; neither had passed or acknowledged the other since that night.

That was partly to blame on the rest of them though, they had decided amongst themselves that it was probably safer if the two nobodies concerned steered clear of each other for a while. He hadn't slept much in the last two weeks either, she had tried to get Demyx to talk about the dreams that woke him, but he usually just said it was nothing, smiled and made her go back asleep.

* * *

He hardly recalled the last time he had been back to Banora. He hadn't even returned for his father's funeral a few years ago. They had never had a close relationship. He had always been away at work while Angeal had been growing up. Even when Angeal had joined SOLDIER, their paths had rarely crossed. He hadn't seen the point in returning anyhow. ShinRa had still been trying to locate and reclaim members of their collapsed SOLDIER force. If he had returned to his hometown, ShinRa would have surely apprehended him.

Despite the time that had passed since his last trip here, very little had changed. A few new houses had sprung up - compliments of the rebuilding following the Remnants' attack - but other than that, it was still the same as it had been since he had been a child. The same family homes, the same White Banora Apple trees…even Mrs. Alleer. She was still in her little house.

Angeal smiled as the elderly woman stopped mid-sweep and did a double take upon seeing him. He had expected that, he hadn't been back here since he and Genesis had left to join SOLDIER. It made him feel a small bit uncomfortable, almost like a traitor or hypocrite. He had left as a teenager, had always found an excuse not to come back, and now he was walking back as a man looking for answers from a friend.

"Angeal Hewley…well, well. Never thought I would see the day when you or young Rhapsodos would come back here."

He hadn't either. However, times changed. Reading Alex's file and knowing why she had left the Turks and company only seemed to cement that fact in place.

"Makes two of us, Mrs. Alleer."

The elderly woman shook her head as she leaned forward on the end of her broom, a knowing twinkle in her sharp eyes. She was no fool. She had watched more children growing up than she cared to count. She had caught Angeal stealing from her garden more than once, she knew how he worked. He came from a respectable enough family, his mother had done her best to raise him and put him on the correct path, but Hollander had always been a black smudge on the boy's childhood.

That was the past though, things were much different now. Angeal was here to see Alex; it did not take a genius to figure out that much. If he was here to see Alex, then either he had discovered the reasons behind her moving back to Banora or he was here to recruit her back into ShinRa. Neither of which, the elderly woman knew, would please Alex.

"So, you're here to speak to Alexis, I assume?"

Angeal frowned and narrowed his eyes, put off by the elderly woman's accuracy. She was correct and had pinned him in a matter of minutes - had he become that easy to read?

"How -"

"Now now, Angeal. Don't question an old fool in her logic, just be a good child and humour me…Christine, come here for a moment."

Angeal watched in silence - feeling slightly belittled and put in his place by Mrs. Alleer's quick and sharp words - as a young girl detached herself from a group of children playing by one of the apple trees. The young girl ran up towards the woman who had called her, standing close to her hip as her eerily glowing grey eyes looked to him. All along, he had hoped that maybe, possibly, the file had been wrong. Surely, Alex would have told him or Genesis, but looking at the little girl now, he knew every word typed in that file had been the truth.

"Christine, this man is an old friend of your Mother's. He would like to speak to her; will you show him where she is?"

"Kay."

Before the SOLDIER could object or ponder further, the little girl had already seized his arm, half dragging and half leading him stooped over behind her.

* * *

"Kunsel - can I have your opinion on something?"

The second class nodded without glancing up from the time sheets before him, still trying to come up with a workable and practical timetable for the simulation room.

"Go for it, Kiddo."

Danni smiled, _Kiddo_, he would probably always call her that. Regardless of what age she was. She could understand why he had started calling her it. She had been a child back then in Midgar, a nickname like Kiddo or Squirt had worked out better than using her name due to the possibility of her name making it to the ears of her brother. But she was a young woman now and a 1st Class SOLDIER…and still a Kiddo.

"What to do about Demyx and Zexion."

Kunsel tore his cerulean eyes away from the old timesheet in his hand, taking a few moments to silently consider the query put to him. He did not know the full story of what had went down two weeks ago between the two nobodies. He had a rough outline and idea of what had happened compliments of Rod, who had gotten his information from Reno, who had in turn gotten it from Axel; it gave a completely new meaning to the term through the grapevine. He still did not understand why things were being treated with they way they were. Girls and guys were different. Girls held on to grudges and waged silent wars between each other. Guys just fought and moved on. Or at least generally speaking, there were the exceptions to that rule…such as Sephiroth and his maternal issues.

"Stop trying to keep them apart. Leave them sort things out. They're both big boys now and know how to be mature."

He had a point, she had to admit that. Danni sighed as she tried to figure out the possible scenarios - she personally could not see any way around it other than the two of them having a confrontation. Right now, it was like the elephant in the room - everyone saw it, but no one mentioned it. It was uncomfortable and awkward. If they fought it would be worse for a while, but they would get over it in the end…hopefully.

Danni shook as another shiver ran the length of her spine, sending more hairs on ends in a pathetic attempt to warm her body. Rufus or Lazard - either would do - one of them was certainly getting an earful the moment she saw them, it was ridiculous how cold it was on the SOLDIER floor. It was too cold to work, there had to be a law against it somewhere…

"Catch."

Danni looked up in time to catch Kunsel's jacket. She stared at it for a few moments before looking back to the SOLDIER with confusion clear on her features. Kunsel only shook his head laughing as he stood from his desk, writing his attempts at a workable share timetable off as a lost cause. He was damned if he could find a fitting window of time for the Turks to use the SOLDIER simulation room that coincided with the SOLDIER timetable - someone else could have a go and fair play to them if they could work one out.

"Wow, mornings really don't agree with you, huh? It's a jacket, you're cold…I thought maybe you could put two and two together?"

Danni smiled, slightly embarrassed as she pulled on Kunsel's jacket, silently loving how it was two sizes too large for her. She stuck her tongue out as she ducked out of the way of Kunsel's hand. Kiddo was one thing, but she was certainly drawing the line at ruffling her hair.

* * *

"Anyone would think I had a dozen kids…"

Alex sighed as she spoke to herself, bending down again to pick up another of Christi's toys. The five-year-old had and unruly habit of placing her toys in a pattern around the house, a pattern akin to an obstacle course. The girl simply picked up a toy, walked about a foot or two before losing all interest in it and dropping it before setting her sights on something else. Her curiosity was insatiable, toys merely lasted a day or two before being discarded for good.

It wasn't so bad though. At least Christi had been brought up here as opposed to Midgar or Edge. She didn't have anything against Edge, not in the slightest. In fact, she had the utmost respect for the people living there, they had picked themselves up from the ruins of Midgar and were trying their best to restart and rebuild. But at least here in Banora, Christi was just one of the other kids playing around. She wasn't under the constant eye of ShinRa because of who they suspected was her father. Of course people here had their notions too, but her parents had been quick to stop such rumours spreading, as had good old Mrs. Alleer. That woman was as straight as they came, what you saw was what you got, whether you wanted it or not.

At least she didn't have that much ahead of her today. Finish cleaning up, sort out some lunch for Christi, probably clean up toys again after that and then dinner. She also had to decide whether or not she was going to stay in Wutai with her parents for a while too. She had been lucky enough when the Remnants had appeared in Banora, she'd been visiting her parents with Christi. People had their notions, but she knew in her heart and soul, if Sephiroth ever set eyes on Christi, he would be sure of her father. That was something she never wanted to see happen, Christi deserved a life free of all this horrible fighting and hatred.

"Mommy - your old friend is here!"

"Okay sweetie, I'll be out in a minute…"

"Take your time, Alex."

The doll she had just picked up made a dull thud as it fell to the floor again, escaping Alex's grasp as she spun on her heels. She knew that voice, she would know it any where despite the years that had passed since she'd last spoken to him. But she had never expected him to willingly come back to Banora. All he had ever tried to do was walk away from his roots, to show everyone that he wasn't just Hollander's kid, the second rate scientist's son.

Alex mentally scolded herself for reacting in such a jumpy way. What did she have to worry about? She had left ShinRa through the correct channels. It would be different if she had simply went MIA, if that had been the case, ShinRa would still consider her an employee…the Turks would have tracked her down by now and eliminated their loose agent. But she had applied to resign, she had stated her reasons for resigning, she had filled in the reports, filled in the applications and signed the final signature; she was free of ShinRa and free of any strings.

"So the rumours are true, SOLDIER has been resurrected?"

Angeal nodded in response to Alex's question his attention split between her and the little girl between them. She looked no more than five or six, which fit the timeline. The young girl looked from him to her mother before turning and pushing past his leg, running through the open front door of the small cottage, knowing that a grown-up talk was about to take place. He side stepped as Christi crossed the few feet to the door and shouted after the child in a strict but caring tone.

"Stay away from the well Christi!"

He stepped to the side again as Alex turned from the door and narrowly escaped a painful collision with his shoulder. Why wasn't she demanding to know why he was here? He'd expected her to be…well, he wasn't sure what he had expected, but it had been something. She had been surprised to see him, he'd noticed that in her reaction to his voice. But that initial surprise had all but abandoned the situation. Angeal watched as the ex-Turk began to silently pick up the toys she had dropped. Discovering she had left the Turks had come as a slight shock, Alex had liked her job and had been good at it too. However, discovering that her reason for leaving the force had been due to pregnancy had silently shell-shocked him.

Coming face-to-face with the little girl Alex and Mrs. Alleer had called Christi, had only cemented in place what he had already partially accepted and known since reading her file. Christi's age matched the timeline, as did her features; pale complexion, brown hair with a red tinge, along with what he was almost certain was mako eyes. Angeal took several slow steps as he followed Alex's erratic course around the small living room, voicing the one question he had wanted to know since opening her file.

"Why didn't you tell him?"

Same story, different day and different person asking. Everyone was so sure of who Christi's father was, or at least they all had their notions. It was none of their business who her father was. He wasn't around, she was Christi's mother, that's all that mattered. But people were nosy bigots by nature. Alex shrugged as she picked up a cushion and tossed it onto the sofa. What a lovely way to start a conversation, surely after six years she deserved a hello or a friendly remark, not straight into the paternity of her child.

The mother groaned as she grabbed a doll from the floor, coming to the conclusion that cleaning up Christi's toys was akin to shovelling snow while it was still snowing. In honesty, she had expected Angeal to ask that. It was the role he had always played, the person sitting on the fence in the middle. But that was six years ago, what did it matter now? It was the past, no one could change it.

"Why does it even matter?"

Angeal sighed as he grabbed a small pink stuffed chocobo from the floor, deciding the sooner all the toys were up, the sooner Alex would stop redirecting her attention. Of course it mattered. How could she not think it mattered? Christi was only a little girl, what would Alex do once she grew up and started asking questions about her Dad? What would happen if she ever looked towards SOLDIER when she got older, would she connect the dots? Given her mother's knack for quick thinking along with her father's, there was no doubt in his mind the girl would.

"He _is_ her father. He had the right to know."

"Why? So he could've walked away from her too? No, Angeal. This way is easier; he doesn't know and she won't ever have to know that her Dad picked a job over her."

She was allowed to sound that way. Slight spite was par for the course when one considered what Alex had been left to deal with. But was it fair to judge Christi's father without him even knowing? He hadn't known, that was the main point. How could she gauge his response of what he would have done, when she hadn't even told him? Angeal grimaced as he stepped on a doll and tried to reclaim his balance, while still arguing with Alex.

"Genesis didn't know. He may not have chosen SOLDIER, if he had known you were pregnant."

Alex turned, words of further arguments on her lips and half a breath ready to fire them, but she stopped as her eyes locked onto Angeal; sitting on the floor of her living room, a pink Chocobo in one hand and one of Christi's dolls in his other. Despite wanting to disagree with her old friend, Alex could not stop herself from seeing the humour in a 1st Class SOLDIER seated on her floor, playing with her daughter's toys.

"Are you not a bit old for those, Angeal?"

* * *

"Reports of the Remnants has decreased significantly. Heartless attacks have increased double-fold, as have Nobodies. We are treating these two parties as allies of the first."

Danni paused for a moment as she thought about it. The Nobodies made sense, being direct minions of Organization XIII, but she wasn't well versed in the workings of the Heartless. A decrease in the Remnants activity was both a good thing and a bad thing. Good, in the light that there were fewer fatalities and fall-out to deal with. Bad, in the sense that it foreshadowed a possible, and likely, future attack. Only now they couldn't be sure of which world.

Danni dragged her eyes away from the large screen, showing a live feed from Balamb Garden, to look to Zexion. This was where he took over, the Heartless were his department. She tuned out as Zexion began to address Caleb regarding the Heartless and Nobody activity. She passively noticed Kunsel paying attention a few feet behind her. Both Kunsel and Caleb were up for promotions to 1st Class, however, neither of the two knew. Each had been given considerably more responsibility lately. Lazard had approached all of the current 1st Class SOLDIERs, asking for comments and progress reports on the two 2nd Classes.

Kunsel had unknowingly been charged with a lot of work at the ShinRa building; being asked to organise the lower SOLDIERS, along with their training regimes and field work. Caleb, on the other hand, had been given the lead role off world. He was stationed at ShinRa's base in Hollow Bastion. He was the next highest to the 1st Classes. Any queries or the likes from off-world SOLDIERs went straight to Caleb, he held chain of command there. If he were unsure, then it came back to the 1st Class SOLDIERs or the Director.

Danni shook herself from her thoughts as Zexion finished speaking and the live-feed from Hollow Bastion ended. She raised her eyebrows in a non-verbal question towards the Turk, asking form some enlightenment regarding the Heartless. She just about had the Nobodies down and understood most about them, but the Heartless were still a bit blank to her.

"The Heartless will always ally themselves with the stronger side. By Caleb's words, they are acting under Organization XIII. Not a particularly good sign."

Not a good sign, no shit. This wasn't what she needed to hear on a Monday morning. It could not be a good sign when a minor possible enemy, who, by nature, sides with the stronger side, sides with the larger and definite enemy. This gave Sephiroth more resources, all while theirs was stretched as thin as it could go.

* * *

"Were you here when the Remnants - "

"No…"

Alex pushed herself away from the work-top she had been leaning against, handing Angeal a cup of tea, before walking to the opposite end of the kitchen table. No, she had been lucky. She had, on a whim, decided to visit her parents in Wutai, bringing Christi along with her. Word of mouth travelled fast throughout Gaia, that was a well known fact. But despite that knowledge, she had still been rather disbelieving when rumours began circulating about Banora and the Remnants. It had only been when she'd seen the WRO report on the television, that she had realised what she had narrowly escaped.

"I'd gone to visit my parents in Wutai…thank God."

Now how did he bring this up without it looking like he had come here to purposely back her into a corner? He hadn't, if Angeal was being honest, he had come for the sake of disbelief. Reading that Alex had retired from the Turks based on maternity leave and parental responsibilities had left him stunned. Alex had been the last person he had ever expected to have a child. She had been the hyper trouble maker, constantly disobeying direct orders, but all for the benefit of the people involved. Then again, Alex and Genesis had been a pair he hadn't seen coming either.

She had been lucky to escape the Remnant's visit, but what would happen if they decided to come again? Would she be so lucky as to be gone visiting again? What if they stepped it up and decided to leave it to their brother? It hadn't taken Angeal long to spot some similarities between Christi and Genesis, it would not take Sephiroth either. And knowing the past rivalry between the two SOLDIERs, Sephiroth would do his utmost to destroy what he thought Genesis valued. Alex and Christi had no security here in Banora, Edge would offer some defence.

"Alex…why did you leave? You liked being a Turk."

"I know…"

She had only just sat down, but Alex stood up quickly; walking to the window and looking out at the hill behind her home. A few Banora apple trees found themselves rooted at random intervals, up the side of the hill. He was right, she had loved being a Turk. It sounded stupid, but she had looked forward to going into work; being able to look at mission report and immediately spot mistakes, being set challenges of designing battle manouvres that were full proof and certain to be successful. It had been her element. The field work had been something she had delighted in, not so much the assassin missions, those were normally left to Reno or a few of the others, she had worked in coalition with the SOLDIER force on a few occasions.

But that had been then. She had been the one to organise battle plans, read through intended missions and spot silly mistakes before anyone fell victim to them. But she had also been the one to organise Zack Fair's in-building training and field work, so as to prevent his and Danni Fair's schedules to clash. That had been the only aspect of her job that she'd hated. Danni had only been a little girl, it was wrong for her to be roped into the ShinRa ranks as a child. She hadn't known what a normal childhood was, she hadn't had any friends her own age because of having to spend so much time with ShinRa. She had not even been allowed to confide in her big brother. Danni was part of the reason she had left. Alex had seen the young girl grow up within ShinRa, and she hadn't wanted that for her own child. She had loved her job, but her job was not above Christi.

"If you could have left earlier and brought Danni with you, would you have?"

That was a very good question. He had treated his job as a life. Being a 1st Class SOLDIER had shown how far you could get if you had the will to fight for it. But Danni had opened his eyes too. Angeal had been her guardian, which had changed his perspective on this job greatly. He had wanted to leave many times before he actually did. Seeing a child being put through rigorous training, field work and cowering in fright from a scientist had left him with an intense hatred for the men who saw no wrong in it. His answer was yes, he had been tempted to leave long before SOLDIERs disappearance, and if the opportune moment had arisen before the, he would have taken it.

But, having said that, he had also orchestrated Danni's return to ShinRa, based on her own welfare. Gongaga had been all but levelled, people had been missing and found dead, a few survivors had been brought to surrounding towns and cities by the WRO. It had been the safest thing for Danni to go with ShinRa.

"Yes, I would have. But times change, Alex. ShinRa's not the same company as it was then. Danni's not a little girl anymore, she's a 1st Class, and has a life of her own now too. Gongaga was destroyed, her family and parents were killed by the Remnants, she was lucky to escape. If you want to protect Christi, come back with me."

* * *

Danni was off his list, Angeal was half off it, that left Cloud and Kunsel. Zack shook his head, he had to take care of one at a time. Things hadn't stopped moving since he and Aerith had been allowed back in the middle of even more drama. Danni had been hurt, so people hadn't particularly stopped to wonder what was going on. Angeal had a little, but things had only picked up speed from there. He and Danni had spoken, it had been awkward and weird, but they'd gotten past it. Now it was time to strike another name off his mental list.

Now it was time he stopped avoiding the matter. He and Cloud had gone through a lot, and yet he had purposely avoided talking about it. So had Cloud, they both had. Whenever they'd been face with each other, they'd laughed or directed their attention to something else. But stuff had to be sorted while there was some lull. Zack looked around the bar quickly as the stepped through the door, eyes glancing over the framed photos on the wall, before turning to the person changing a keg behind the bar.

"How come you're not at work?"

Cloud shrugged as he pulled and empty keg away from under the bar, placing it to the side, as he half-lifted and half-kicked a full keg into it's vacant space, before bending back down and connecting it up. He was at work, he hardly did this for the good of his health. The Strife Delivery Service had been put to the side a lot lately, due to Tifa and Yuffie's expanding bumps.

"I am - deliveries are second job now."

Zack leaned over the bar counter, watching the blond with silent bemusement. That blond little kid, who had wanted nothing more than to be a SOLDIER, now ran his own delivery service, had a family and a kid on the way…time had an odd way of making people grow up. How come he'd known exactly what he had wished to say, before walking through the door? He'd had it rehearsed perfectly, now his carefully thought out heart-to-heart had all but ran away and left him leaning over the counter, all by his lonesome. Zack pushed himself back to his feet as the ticking of the clock becoming deafening.

"It wasn't your fault, you know that, right? Sometimes things just have to happen, you don't owe me a thing, Spikey."

Damn…now he had nothing left to occupy himself with. He couldn't pretend he hadn't heard Zack. But what was he supposed to say back? Cool? No problem? Let's just forget about it? Cloud sighed, pulling his head up from under the counter, taking particular care to avoid the bar tap, his eyes dancing on Zack as he considered things. He knew it wasn't his fault, he knew that now. But Zack was still wrong, he did owe him. Big time. Without Zack, he could have remained Hojo's little test specimen for years after that, until he'd succumbed to Mako poisoning. He would not be here today, he would not have realised his feelings for Tifa, he would not have started his own business, he wouldn't be standing in a successful bar right now, with a beautiful wife, a baby on the way, and a remarkable family of friends around him. Cloud smirked to himself, shaking his head a little, as he walked out through the gap in the counter.

"Nah, I owe you everything, Zack."

* * *

_**A/N: Kinda a short end, I know. It was originally supposed to be a reallllllllyyyy long chapter, but I decided to cut it. Mainly because I couldn't commit myself to sit down for the length of time was needed to type it out, and secondly because I wanted to see how much my writing's suffered or back-tracked on hiatus before I continue with this chapter. Let me know what you guys think, if it's crap - let me know, I'll rewrite it. :)**_


	43. Truce

_**A/N: Hi there :) Contrary to the months that have passed, I actually haven't forgotten about this :P**_

* * *

It should have been an easy decision to make. So then why was Alex finding herself so conflicted? If she stayed in Banora, it was likely that another attack would happen. She wouldn't be able to protect Christi if that happened. But what if she went back with Angeal and things hadn't changed? She could always go to Edge and choose not to return to ShinRa. But Alex knew that wasn't an option, she was bored out of her skull as matters stood; watching all the news reports of attacks and simply sitting back on the sofa was not something she was comfortable with.

But what if ShinRa hadn't changed, what if Rufus had turned out the same as his father? She knew the Turks looked after their own, but they had always had a better relationship with Rufus than with his father.

Alex stood from the kitchen table, biting her thumbnail as she looked out the kitchen window, Christi and some other kids were running around, laughing and shouting…they were probably playing tag or something along those lines. Half of her wanted to go back, to do something instead of sitting like a duck and waiting for trouble to come her way. But going with Angeal meant she had to face Genesis and that was the part that was turning her stomach. Maybe in hindsight telling him would have been a good idea? Alex sighed, shaking her head as she turned back to face her friend.

"Okay, you win."

* * *

The thought surprised even herself, but it was the question that had been playing on Danni's mind with the last hour or so. If the Heartless always sided with whoever was the most probable to win, then did that not mean they were going to lose? It was a pretty pessimistic view, but she wanted to know.

"Zexion, if the Heartless side with whoever they think is strongest, then are we not fighting a losing cause?"

Zexion held her gaze, silently considering his answer. In the past the Heartless had always allied themselves with whoever seemed more likely to win. Knowing that the Heartless had now sided with the Organization was a bit of a knock, but then again the Heartless had sided with Maleficent, who Sora had easily defeated. The Heartless weren't the most intelligent of creatures, it wasn't their skills that helped whoever they allied with, but their sheer numbers. Lower nobodies were fewer, but out-skilled the Heartless hands down.

"It's not good knowing they've sided with the Organization, it's disheartening but the Heartless aren't a deciding factor."

"Disheartening…thought you didn't have a heart?"

A small laugh had escaped his lips before he had even fully realised her joking tone. Zexion shrugged, still smirking as he turned away from the mainframe screen. He'd thought he didn't have one too, but the months that had passed since they'd split from the Organization had successfully confused him. Before defecting, he wouldn't have cared if Demyx or the others saw him in a different light or not, but right now he did. Maybe things were easier when they'd all been personal enemies at the Organization?

"You and me both - what's he been like?"

Danni suppressed another yawn as she stood from where she'd been sitting on the ledge of a desk, still thankful of Kunsel's 'borrowed' jacket. She'd been waiting for him to ask that. Boys were boys, whether they grew up or not they didn't do the whole face-to-face, touchy-subject thing. She was glad her remark had earned a smile at least, Zexion hadn't exactly been the most sociable of the gang from the Organization, but since Xemnas' appearance at the Northern Crater and the fallout from the revelations that followed, things had been extremely tense.

"I don't know if I'm being honest…"

Danni found herself staring at the tiled floor, a bit embarrassed by her answer. It was true though. Any time she tried to bring up the matter or even just trued to understand things, Demyx found something else to talk about or a reason to leave. She understood that he didn't want to talk about it, but where did that leave her?

"He's not sleeping, when he does there's nightmares…he won't talk about things and I don't know what I'm allowed to mention anymore."

He felt guilty, whether he had a heart or not it was still partially his fault. He did regret what happened to Daken, but in his defence the Organization had been different back then; he had been different back then. It was done and no one could change that. But it could have surfaced a bit more smoothly, okay he understood there was no nice way to explain the matter to Demyx, but Xemnas simply dumping the information on him wasn't much of a help.

"He was never meant to know. I regret what happened but I can't change it either."

"Nah, but you can always pretend you've changed…but we all know better than that, right Zexion?"

Zexion snapped his eyes up, instantly recognising the nonchalant and laid back voice as Xigbar's. Before he had given Danni enough time to realise what was happening, he'd grabbed her arm and dragged her down behind one of the desks, using it as a shield before Xigbar took the liberty of firing at them. He looked around quickly, Xigbar would have an unobstructed aim if him or Danni made for the now shattered door, if he used a portal Xemnas or one of the others could intercept it.

"Hey Danni, have you got - what the hell?"

Kunsel did the only thing that made sense to him, bearing in mind he had no weapon at hand and the man standing staring at him appeared to have two, the SOLDIER tossed up the paperwork he had been mulling over all morning, it was a pathetic defense, but it created enough of a diversion for both Danni and Zexion to escape their dead-end position.

* * *

"You're here early, trouble in paradise?"

He didn't even need to look up as the door of the Turks' Lounge swung open, that was Kaito, one of the senior Turks. He was a few years older than him and was in charge of field operations when Tseng or Reno were otherwise occupied. If he thought he was here early now, the man obviously hadn't realised how early he'd actually come into work. Demyx rubbed the back of his neck as he answered the other Turk, not taking his eyes away from the pages in front of him.

"No, nothing like that, couldn't sleep so I figured I should get some stuff done."

Kaito nodded as he finished refilling the kettle - Reno or Rod had obviously used it last, neither of the two redheads ever refilled it - he looked back to the table where Demyx was sitting. The table was littered with a few brown files, countless sheets of white paper, balls of scrunched up sheets and numerous pages filled with hand writing. It looked like the blond's handwriting. Kaito furrowed his brow as he tried to figure out what the other Turk was up to, the files didn't look like Turk profiles, the handwritten pages could be mission reports, but Demyx hadn't been on any missions since the Northern Crater.

"What all this?

Demyx answered without looking up. He could say Turk stuff, but Kaito wasn't stupid and it would only show that he was being a pain in the neck trying to hide stuff. Anyhow, at this stage the whole building knew what had happened at the Northern Crater and had noticed his and Zexion's odd behaviour towards each other. With all the things going on in his head lately, other people seemed to know more about it than he did.

"Not sure myself…I'm trying to figure things out and I guess I thought it would be easier if I had it all down in front of me, instead of in my head."

Kaito glanced back to the clock on the wall, curiosity fighting hard to take hold. The building was still relatively quiet, the staff were still arriving and switching shifts, his prolonged absence couldn't cause any disruption. Little bits and pieces of information had trickled to him over the two weeks since the mission to the Northern Crater, but he still did not know exactly what had happened to involve Demyx and some old reports about and incident in Costa del Sol. The senior Turk finished making two cups of coffee and then walked to the table where Demyx sat. He sat opposite the young man and pushed one of the mugs towards him.

"What has been going on in the last two weeks?"

That was a good question. Demyx wasn't even sure he had an answer for that question. He avoided the matter when Danni brought it up, would that make him a bad boyfriend if he decided it was okay to discuss it with a colleague instead? His reasons for not speaking to Danni about it was because of the stress he'd already caused her. What help would he be, rambling on about things that he didn't even understand himself?

Demyx sat back into his chair, thinking for a moment. Maybe it would help if someone neutral heard his ramblings? What he'd managed to get onto paper made absolutely no sense when he read it back, it had no beginning, no middle and no end, just a solid block of jumbled up dreams that may or may not be memories.

"Xemnas, was at the Northern Crater, he said some things that didn't really make sense. The last thing I remember from the Northern Crater was him disappearing through a portal and me wondering why Tseng and Rude were suddenly sideways."

Demyx stood, stretching and running a hand along the back of his stiff neck. He took another moment to think back over everything he'd written this morning, it didn't exactly make sense but it had helped him to clear his head a little. But how did he explain the rest without sounding like a complete lunatic? Demyx sat back down and put one of his hands around the mug of coffee Kaito had given him before continuing.

"You know me and the guys are nobodies, I'm assuming you know how that works too. I could never remember anything about my life before the Organization besides a garden with a lot of flowers, tons of people on a beach and some heartless. To put it in short, since all that fun at the Crater, I can remember a lot more…too much probably. Zexion and I aren't seeing eye to eye because of something that happened before I joined the Organization."

Kaito watched the young man as he stared intently at the mug in his hand. He had the basic knowledge regarding nobodies and heartless. Tseng had taken the initiative to organise a briefing for the Turks shortly after Demyx and the other four nobodies had been recruited. The five had done their best to explain in the simplest terms possible, it had taken a while for the younger Turks to grasp the concept of hearts and darkness and nobodies. It still didn't explain the brown file labelled 'CDS Incident' on the table before them. It was closed but Kaito knew it was a report on what had happened in Costa del Sol.

"What happened that involved Zexion before the Organization? And what does it have to do with this?"

Demyx smiled as Kaito tapped his finger on the Costa del Sol file, he should have figured that he'd spot it. He hadn't exactly done a lot to hide it in all fairness. He hadn't been sure it had anything to do with it, he had simple done a search on some names and it had been one of the tagged results in the database.

"Basically, that whole file is what happened. My father worked with Xemnas before the Organization, he didn't agree with what was going to happen and left. Xemnas and the founding members tracked him down six years ago and killed him. Zexion was a founding member of Organization XIII, he was there the night they killed Daken Iida and when I joined the Organization."

The senior Turk's dark jade eyes held the younger Turk's, taking a few seconds to think about the young man's words. Kaito knew the contents of the Costa del Sol file off by heart, he had been one of the Turks assigned to conduct the inquiry six years ago. ShinRa had received a sudden and prolonged back-lash from the resort's people, hostility had met them over night. For once ShinRa had actually been completely innocent in the matter. Every statement had been different in one aspect or another, the assailants had worn suits, the assailants had worn coats, there had been a dozen strange men, there had been only a hand full…the majority of reports from locals had all contradicted each other.

The overall summary of the incident had been six individuals had disrupted a festival on the beach during the night. Strange black creatures and white beings had attacked the throngs of people, after the chaos had subsided a local and well known scientist had been found deceased on the beach and a young teenager had been listed as missing. Many of the locals had firmly pointed the finger of blame towards ShinRa.

Kaito understood why they did. In the past ShinRa had done some pretty shady things, it almost had their calling card on it. But that had been the old ShinRa. The ShinRa of today was under Rufus ShinRa and not his father. The Costa del Sol incident had had nothing to do with the company. The peoples' distrust has been passed onto the youngsters of the resort and still stood firmly even today; the Turks held files on several youths from Costa del Sol who were well known for causing trouble when members of ShinRa were at the resort.

"A couple of years back, there was an incident in Costa del Sol, which ShinRa was blamed for. The company ordered an iinquiry into the incident in order to clear their name, I was one of the senior Turks assigned to conduct the inquiry. A local scientist was killed and a teenager was reported as missing. The name of the scientist was Daken Iida."

Demyx looked up, he had made that connection the minute he had read through the file on what had happened in Costa del Sol. But it was different hearing someone else say it. It was a relief. He wasn't just grasping at something and trying to make it fit into place. He had been afraid to believe his own thoughts, what if he had just wanted to be from here? Part of him already knew the answer. He knew the woman and two siblings he had been looking for in his dreams still lived in the same place as they had back then. He didn't want Xemnas to make them suffer again, but he didn't want to see them either, he wasn't Myde, not anymore.

"His wife and other two children still live in Costa del Sol. The eldest is a teenage boy, he is listed on the Turks' database. He is one of the main ringleaders when it comes to teenagers causing trouble when any ShinRa personnel are in the city."

Demyx nodded silently as Kaito finished speaking. He had picked up the hint. He would be lying if he said he wasn't tempted, but maybe he should actually clear things with Tseng first. He doubted the lead Turk would be exactly impressed if he found out that he'd been going through some files that had nothing to do with Turk missions.

Both men were shaken from their thoughts as the door of the Turks' lounge was forced in, something that resembled a rag-doll followed. The two watched on as several shadow heartless swarmed through the door and towards the blond, who now stood with two key blades drawn.

Roxas looked up he finished with the last of the shadows that had followed him through the door - why were they just standing there with their mouths open? He had only just clocked into work and now all hell was in the process of breaking loose. There were dozens more heartless throughout the corridors of the Turks' floor, he didn't know if they'd infiltrated the building further, though he doubted they'd just popped in on the Turks' floor to say hi.

"Are you seriously just gonna stand there?"

It took another moment for Demyx to snap out of his daze. The heartless were working under Organization XIII, Xemnas wouldn't have sent the heartless alone, they were mindless and acted on the basic impulse of seizing hearts, he would have sent one of the others with them to ensure they only acted upon what he wanted.

* * *

"Why are we running?"

Zexion glanced over his shoulder as Danni spoke, ensuring none of the Organization were in the corridor, he ground to a halt as he tried to figure out their next move. If Xigbar was here, then some of the others had surely followed. Was it just an attack or revenge for what Demyx had done to Vexen? It wasn't likely that Xemnas had come too, but he couldn't say for sure. As for why they had run, to save their butts. He was the Cloaked Schemer, he made plans, he manipulated others, he used pawns and puppets to do his dirty work, he wasn't a wimp but he wasn't a complete idiot either.

"Because I don't see a weapon in either of your hands, and there's definitely not one in mine."

Danni frowned and elbowed Kunsel as he bit back a laugh, she'd only asked a question, there was no need to get smart over it. He had a point, but running wasn't exactly clever either, not when they didn't know how many of the Organization were in the building, they could just be running into another confrontation. If the Organization were here, then there was a chance Sephiroth or the Remnants would be too, and she definitely didn't want to run into them without a defence.

She definitely didn't want to run into Sephiroth. She had always harboured anger and hatred towards the man, what he'd ordered the Remnants to do to Gongaga had only intensified her hatred for him. But ever since their last meeting, she found herself harbouring a new emotion towards the man; fear. It had been seven weeks since he'd left her on the ground to bleed out, but she still remembered every word he'd spoken and the cold glare in his eyes. They'd never been that cold when she'd been a child. He had never been that ruthless, he'd pushed her and made her train hard, but he had never been so cold back then.

"Hate to interrupt your thoughts, but it's time for you two to go."

Danni looked up, taking a breath to argue as Zexion pushed her back the way they had come. She bit back her words upon realising he wasn't even looking at her, but straight ahead. She followed his gaze and found herself staring at a familiar face, the same woman who'd trashed the bar weeks ago; Larxene. She was all for avoiding the deranged female's small knives and quick attacks, but as Zexion had already pointed out, he had no weapon either.

"But Z-"

"Your boyfriend already hates me, if you get hurt, I'm pretty certain he'll kill me…Kunsel?"

Kunsel nodded as he placed his hands on Danni's shoulders, shoving her ahead of him, he wasn't about the argue with the Turk, he knew more about the Organization than any of them did. They couldn't head back the same way they had come, the guy with the eye-patch would still be there. Their best bet was the President's office or the Turks' floor. The Turks' floor would have more personnel and more weapons, but he didn't want to put Danni in harms way either.

Now he saw the sense in why Angeal didn't like the idea of her working at ShinRa while she was pregnant. He was a 2nd Class SOLDIER, she was a 1st Class, they weren't supposed to run away from adversaries like this, but Danni was pregnant, he didn't want to be the one responsible for her getting hurt and miscarrying or something. Zack would kill him, then Angeal would, then Demyx.

The SOLDIER glanced up as he continued down the stairs, taking them two at a time while trying to ensure no one else was in the stairwell. Kunsel stopped suddenly as the door he had been heading for opened, already tensing up and preparing for another member of the Organization to step through. He pushed Danni further behind him as several small black creatures were sent soaring through the door, dissipating into darkness before they could strike the floor or wall. Relief flooded over Kunsel as both Roxas and Demyx stepped through the door. Danni had already side-stepped his frame and ran to her boyfriend before he had a chance to explain.

"What's going on? Is Sephiroth and the -"

Demyx shook his head, glancing over Danni's head to scan the stairs above and below the floor. It wasn't a synchronized attack, this was just a small scale ploy to unsettle them. Neither Sephiroth nor Xemnas were here, he and Roxas had already sent Luxord back to the stronghold, while Axel had run into Xigbar. He doubted Xemnas would have been stupid enough to send all his minions in one go, hopefully there wouldn't bee too many left in the building.

The number of heartless had already declined and the other SOLDIERs had begun to arrive. Some had simply walked in for work and found the place being overrun with heartless, while others had received messages while off duty and rushed in to aid in any way they could. He'd already past Zack and Cloud in the lobby of the building, while numerous more SOLDIERs of differing ranks had dotted the corridors along the way.

"No, it's just the Organization. Luxord and Xigbar -"

"And Larxene, Zexion's fighting her, he made me and Kunsel leave."

Demyx groaned inwardly as he glanced back up overhead at the stairs, so now he decided to play the hero? Axel was at the infirmary, he wasn't badly hurt, but Sandra had insisted he get the wound on his arm looked at. Marluxia was with Rufus, contacting all off world stations, ensuring none of them had been attacked in a similar way. He doubted they had, it had been a minor attack to upset things and throw them off guard, it was the next attack he was worried about.

He had to go help Zexion. He despised Larxene as matters stood, but he knew Zexion's strengths lay with illusions and strategy, he could hold her off for a while with illusions, but she could use clones and was extremely agile, it wouldn't take her long to shatter his illusions. He might still be angry with Zexion, but he couldn't knowingly turn away and let him get hurt either. They had issues in the past and it was about time he let them stay in the past.

"Your brother's in the lobby … I'll be back soon."

Danni made to argue but was cut off as Demyx pushed past her and headed back up the stairs from where she and Kunsel had come. What if he and Zexion got into a fight on top of all this? Her heart was telling her to follow Demyx up the flight of stairs, but her head wasn't listening for once, it knew that this was a chance for the two nobodies to call a truce.

Roxas waited another moment or two before allowing Oblivion and Oathkeeper to fall from his grip, both Keyblades disappearing before they struck the floor. Her certainly hadn't been expecting that when he got up this morning, he was just relieved that Naminé had gone back to Mickey's Castle, she'd stayed in Edge for a few days after the whole Northern Crater ordeal, but had agreed that it was probably safer at the castle than in the city.

At least that was one worry off his mind, Sora would make sure nothing happened to her. He was luckier than the rest of his friends, Axel had been speaking to Sandra when Xigbar had appeared in the building's lobby. That was the main reason why Sandra had made him get checked out at the infirmary, the hothead had really gotten into it with Xigbar when the Freeshooter had realised what the receptionist was to Axel. Roxas knew Axel tended to act before he thought when personal stuff came into fights. As for Demyx, the blond not only had Danni to worry about with the Organization, but the baby as well.

Roxas smirked, burying his hands in his pants pocket as he nodded his head towards the door he'd walked through. Things were starting to calm down a bit, the only floor left to clear was the one Demyx and Zexion were on, they'd have it sorted soon enough.

"I suggest we go this way…"

* * *

"Ahh…"

Zexion cringed and bit down on his lower lip, slowly pulling one of Larxene's knives from his shoulder; his illusions had stalled longer than he thought they would, but now he was on his butt and still had no weapon. He had never openly acknowledged his own dislike of Larxene, but as of now he was mentally reciting it.

It looked as if she had become one of Xemnas's favourites since they'd defected from the Organization. He had sent her to Seventh Heaven after Danni and now she knew about his connection to Daken's death. Only Xigbar, Xaldin, Lexaeus or Vexen could have told her about that if Xemnas hadn't. Vexen was gone, so he wasn't an option. Xaldin had held Daken in high esteem when they'd been apprentices, he hadn't voiced his discomfort in eliminating the man, but he never mentioned what had happened on the beach to any of the founding members, he doubted he had broken habit and started a conversation about it with Larxene. Lexaeus wasn't exactly a man of many words, his loyalty wouldn't allow him to tell her. That left Xigbar, the eavesdropper would have told her in a moment if he'd known Xemnas had relented on their agreement not to mention it.

Zexion pushed himself backwards as another knife came his way, he cursed himself for paying more attention to his thoughts than the woman, she had no qualms about taking advantage of a situation, he knew that, if he could edge backwards enough, he could use the door as an escape route, a portal seemed the most obvious of options, but he could be stepping out of the pan and into the fire if Xemnas or one of the others were waiting for him. The young man prepared to move once more as the sadistic blonde drew back her hand, only for blast of water to knock her from her stance.

Demyx moved quickly as Larxene stumbled and caught herself before the floor rushed up to meet her; he slipped behind her grabbed hold of her wrists, bending them up behind her back as he pressed himself closer to her, a small smirk on his face as he noticed Zexion's dumbfounded expression. He leaned down to speak into the struggling female's ear.

"Your soaked; use your lightning techniques and you sacrifice your own existence."

Larxene allowed the knives she had intended on burying in Zexion fall to the floor as her hands were wrenched up behind her back. Her eyes narrowed as she struggled to get free from Demyx's grip, angry with herself for allowing the idiot to catch her off guard. His words only added insult to injury, that was how she had faded the first time around, she didn't need to be reminded.

Why was he helping Zexion? Xigbar had told her everything about what the founding members had done. Demyx knew what had happened, Xemnas had unlocked his memories from his previous life, he knew the role Zexion had played in it and he was still holding her back; protecting him. Larxene gritted her teeth as she again tried to free her hands, aiming one of her heeled boots for her captor's foot.

"You're going to defend someone who helped to murder your own father … guess you really are heartless."

Demyx moved his foot quickly to avoid Larxene's heel, he slipped her two wrists into once of his hands, using the second to grab a handful of her hair. He still hadn't forgotten her visit to Seventh Heaven, the only thing he regretted about that had been his decision to allow her back to the stronghold. He wasn't in the mood to listen to her today, he glanced back to where Zexion still sat on the floor of the corridor, his shirt stained with blood from his shoulder, smaller cuts and scrapes marred his any exposed skin.

He was still angry, he'd spent the last two weeks cursing Zexion and reliving the same scene over and over in his head. But if he kept holding onto the hatred and anger, he would land himself back at the stronghold, he had a heart now, regardless of Xemnas's beliefs. He wasn't in a rush to give it up on something he couldn't change. Demyx's attention snapped back to Larxene as she tried to pull one of her hands free from his grip; he wrenched her head back as he whispered in her ear, his voice dangerously low.

"Is your knee still sore? You only know what you were told, you weren't there. You don't get to use that as ammo, Larxene. Do you want to find out what I did to Vexen with your own eyes?"

Larxene froze, Xigbar had told her about that too. He'd tried to describe it too, she still couldn't understand how he had managed to discover that extension of his element. He was the idiot of the Organization, the one nobody had wanted to be partnered with. He had spent more time playing that bloody sitar of his in the grey room than he had on missions, he'd even tried to bribe others into doing his work for him.

There was no way he could have pulled off something like that, surely Xigbar had been mislead by one of Zexion's illusions or something, the other renegade members had been there too, one of them must have taken down Vezen. Larxene smirked as her resolve strengthened again, she half-laughed her response as she struggled against his hold.

"Don't expect another big confrontation like when your little girlfriend got hurt … that's not on the agenda. Just wait though …wait until all the little kiddies have arrived. Your kid can watch you beg, just like you and your father -"

The rest of Larxene's taunt was lost her eyes shot wide, she tried to look around and face the taller male as her body refused to listen to her. Her hands no longer struggled for freedom, while neither of her feet tried to catch her captor off-guard. Her chest stopped it's rhythmical rise and fall, her head wouldn't turn to face who was doing this, all she could do was stare at the only other person in the corridor; Zexion.

He didn't look shocked, he just returned her glare. Her vision began to blur as a deafening ringing filled her ears, she tried to scream or shout out against whatever this was, but not even her mouth would head her wishes.

Demyx felt his hands grip nothing as flecks and wisps of black quickly dissolved into the air in front of him. That was two or the Organization taken out of the equation; Vexen and Larxene, the scientist and demented sadist, they were two considerable members, but that still left Xemnas, Xigbar, Xaldin, Lexaeus, Luxord and Saix. They were probably the biggest assets to Sephiroth as matters stood. He doubted Xemnas had concentrated much of his plans and schemes around either Vexen or Larxene, he would have picked some of the stronger and superior members.

Demyx shook himself from his thoughts as he walked forward, a smile fighting to get to the surface as he registered the slight surprise and wariness on Zexion's face. He kept his face straight as he leaned against the wall opposite the older nobody. He had already made the decision to let whatever had happened on the beach six years ago stay there. But that didn't mean he couldn't drag a bit of fun out of this.

"Your sleeve is torn."

Zexion blinked, blue eyes scanning his shirt before looking back to the blond. No shit, Larxene's little knives had shredded his whole shirt, not just the sleeve, but why was he mentioning that. Why wasn't he either attacking him or yelling? Not that he wanted the other Turk to attack him, not after seeing how he'd just dealt with Larxene, but this wasn't making sense.

"Yeah … about what hap-"

The rest of his explanation was lost with a mouthful of water. Zexion shook his head and wiped his eyes dry, anger immediately coming to the surface. What was that about, he'd been about to explain and apologise and the blond's response had been to soak him. He took a breath to voice his choice names but stopped as his blurred vision cleared; he hesitantly took the hand that was outstretched towards him.

"I don't want to hear it. It happened, I can't change it, you can't either. Let's just leave it and call a truce?"

* * *

**_A/N: What did you think? Truth - I did actually kinda fall off the bandwagon with this. I got bored a few nights ago and decided to read over the last couple of chapters to motivate myself, only to realise I had already started this chapter and had half of it done :) Edit: I want to apologise for all the cringe-worthy spelling mistakes I had in this, I just fixed as many as I could find. I did do a spell check before uploading, but I have a theory that adds new ones in when you upload your stuff :P  
_**


	44. Revelations

**_A/N: So, yeah...it's been forever :P (Sorry ^_^)_**

* * *

"What's going on?"

Alex slowed down to scoop Christi up, placing the five-year-old on her hip as she struggled to keep up with Angeal; countless Turks, SOLDIERs and other ShinRa personnel raced past them, too preoccupied to notice her presence. She had just finished telling herself she'd made the right decision and he'd walked her straight into a war zone. This wasn't how she'd expected the day to go when she had got up this morning, deciding what to cook for dinner and tidying up Christi's toys had been the only challenges she'd had to worry about and now she was following Angeal through a corridor in the ShinRa building.

The mother kept her head low as she ran through what could cause the surge of personnel: missions, a failed mission, something happening to the President, an announcement or an attack. The Remnants rarely showed up without their Shadow Creepers, as disgusting as they were, they weren't the most intelligent of beasts, and they generally announced their arrival with screeches and were messy with their attacks, acting on the instinct of the chase. There was no panic outside and no Shadow Creepers, it wasn't likely that the Remnants had attacked the headquarters.

However, what about Sephiroth's allies? Rumours had circulated about another group of individuals who were aiding the ex-SOLDIER, she didn't know much about them though. Alex took a breath to ask Angeal about the enigmatic group, looking up just in time stop herself from walking into the SOLDIER's back. She glanced around his frame, silently hoping it wasn't Genesis he'd stopped to speak to. But it wasn't him, she instead found herself looking at two young men, one stood with just a dark trousers on, while the seconds sported the usual attire for a Turk. Her eyes lingered on the first Turk though, locking onto the strange black symbol on his upper right arm and the roman numerals on his chest: VI.

Angeal furrowed his brow as he stared at the two nobodies for a moment; his instinct was to ask why Zexion was missing his jacket and shirt, while his second was to ask why they weren't killing each other. The last time he had checked, Demyx and Zexion hadn't exactly been on talking terms. The SOLDIER ignored his personal questions as he decided to go with the most obvious.

"What happened?"

Demyx was the first to answer walking as he spoke, he gestured for the SOLDIER to follow, taking a split second to look at the woman behind the man; he knew Danni had wanted that file for a reason. The blond continued walking, weaving through more personnel as he headed for the SOLDIER floor, Danni and the others were there.

"Luxord, Xigbar and Larxene paid a visit, they brought heartless with them. No Sephiroth, and no Remnants. Larxene was eliminated. The President and your Director are trying to contact all of the off world bases, but they're having trouble establishing contact. Wanna explain who your visitors are?"

Angeal smirked as he met the blond's eyes, noticing the light tone of his voice, he hadn't sounded like that since before the Northern Crater. He shook his head as they stepped through the door of the SOLDIER floor.

"Depends, want to explain why you two are buddies again?"

"Nah…"

Demyx shrugged as he walked away from Angeal and Zexion, making a beeline for where his girlfriend stood alongside the others at one of the mainframes. He wrapped his arms around her waist and rested his chin on the top of her head, scanning over the mainframe screen before turning his attention back to the people standing before it. A small smirk tugged at his mouth as he noticed Genesis standing alongside Zack and Kunsel.

"Get ready for a little more drama."

Danni frowned as she turned around in Demyx's arms; she looked over his shoulder as he cocked his head back. Why was Zexion's shirt missing? Moreover, who had done that to his shoulder? Danni grimaced as she jumped to a conclusion of her own, maybe letting him go to help hadn't been such a good idea after all. She groaned and rested her head against his chest.

"Demyx, I thought you were going to help him, not hurt him. I know you two have history, but that's not fair either…"

What was she on about? Demyx looked back over his shoulder as confusion swept in, she couldn't be on about Angeal, there was nothing wrong with him, not yet anyhow, whether that would stay true when Genesis got a hold of him remained to be seen. That Alex woman and the kid were fine. He half laughed as he copped onto Danni's assumption. He hadn't hurt Zexion; he might be to blame for the surprise dousing he got, but that was all.

"Danni, Larxene did that to his shoulder, not me. The worst I did was soak him, which is why he's missing his shirt, it was torn, bloody and dripping wet. Thing's are cool between us, okay? Now if you look behind Angeal you'll see what I was on about to start with."

Danni smiled as she wrapped her arms around Demyx's neck, standing on the tips of her toes as she glanced over his shoulder, eyes locking onto the female behind Angeal this time, along with the young girl on the woman's hips. She knew Angeal had wanted the file, she'd gotten Demyx to get it for her, but she hadn't thought he'd just bring her here without any warning. She was all for Genesis knowing about why the woman had quit her job, but there were more delicate approaches than this.

The young woman bit her lower lip as she glanced over to Genesis, she thought Angeal had forgotten about the file, it had been two weeks since she'd given it to him, with everything that had happened since, she had forgotten about the whole thing. If she was this surprised after only two weeks, then Genesis was in for the shock of his life.

"Can I try?"

Numerous heads spun as an unfamiliar female voice spoke out; they had all be too preoccupied with the mainframe to notice Angeal's arrival. Alex slowly stepped out from behind her friend as heads turned, she had only been thinking about offering to help, then her mouth had asked without her permission and now she was stuck. She felt her cheeks redden as she walked forward, shifting Christi further up on her hip as the young girl hid her face in the crook of her neck. She didn't blame her; if Alex had the choice right now, she'd hide her face too.

"Alex?"

She mentally kicked her butt into gear as his eyes locked onto her, she didn't want to crumble in front of him, not when she'd spent so long being strong. They'd had their chance, and they'd blown it. Years had past since she'd left the company, what they'd had back then had been great, but it was the past. Alex lowered Christi and walked past the stunned Genesis, leaning in over the mainframe's keyboard and control screens as Christi clung onto the back pockets of her jeans, only peeping out to look at the strangers around her.

Alex scanned the list of bases, there was something wrong with one of the connections, it wasn't a fault on this side, but a fault lying with one of the bases. She ignored the sets of eyes burning into the back of her skull. Their headquarters had just been attacked by whatever the hell heartless were and some other people the blond Turk had mentioned, she doubted Rufus would have a big problem with someone who was willing to help showing up out of the blue.

However, it wasn't him that was bothering her and she knew that, it was Genesis. Alex shook her head and looked back to one of the smaller control screens of the mainframe; she leaned back up and turned to face Rufus, slipping her other hand behind her back to comfort her frightened daughter.

"It's okay Christi…Mommy used to work here along time ago. Which one of the bases is your primary base?"

"Balamb Garden…she's your daughter?"

Alex ignored his words yet again. She knew what wouldn't help matters, but she still hadn't worked out what to say to Genesis. She leaned back down to the keyboard and control screens, opening up several windows as she tried to find a route around the connection problem. She could connect to any of the other bases listed on the control screen, apart from Balamb Garden.

She didn't know where the place was nor how many ShinRa personnel were stationed there, she assumed Rufus had stationed a technician per team, they should have noticed this problem before it had gotten this far. The woman stood back up as she finished typing, she looked down and smiled as Christi peeped out from behind her leg, she might be shy now, but that was only because she didn't know any of these people. Alex looked back up and spoke to Rufus, still feeling Genesis's eyes boring into her.

"You have a problem with whatever system you're using in that base. I've set up a connection but I would get a technician in that base to run a check on the system from their side too.

* * *

"Think we should intervene?"

Danni shrugged as the tension within the room thickened. Genesis was confused, something the SOLDIER hated to an unusual extent. He wanted to know where Alex had suddenly come from. Which would lead him onto Angeal; they'd which would bring up the question of why Angeal hadn't just told him he knew where Alex was. Rufus was probably wondering why his old staff were suddenly coming out of the woodwork, between SOLDIER and now some of the Turks.

She was all for diffusing the situation; they'd had enough drama for one day. Emotions were still running high after the surprise visit of nobodies and heartless, but how did they diffuse something like this? They could start by taking the frightened child somewhere else and leaving her parents to yell themselves out for a bit. Danni nodded as she spoke lowly, everyone else had gone quiet, awaiting his or her explanations.

"I vote for getting the kid out of the middle."

Demyx nodded and unwrapped his arms from around his girlfriend. That was about the only option he could see. None of them had a point in telling Genesis to calm down, he wasn't angry to start with, just severely confused. Alex had stuff to talk to him about, obviously. He walked forward a few feet before crouching down, he cocked his head sideways and smiled as Christi looked out from behind her mother's leg.

"Hi there, remember me? I showed your Mommy the way here. My name's Demyx, what's your name?"

The young girl nodded her head quickly as she peeped out further from her mother's shadow, she remembered him, and he had been talking to her Mommy's friend.

"Mmm-hmm, I'm Christi…"

Demyx ignored the odd looks Marluxia and Zexion were giving him. They were probably betting on who would start yelling first, personally speaking he reckoned it would be Alex. Genesis wasn't the kind of person to raise his voice outside of a fight, and even then it wasn't often he did. The Turk turned his attention back to Christi as he noticed the SOLDIER's eyes going between Alex and Angeal; he was starting to put things together.

"You see that girl standing behind me? Her name's Danni, she's my girlfriend. We're going to go to one of the lounges, there's a big TV there, you can watch it if it's okay with your Mommy?"

Alex nodded her head and smiled as Christi looked up to her, her eyes almost begging. So, the SOLDIER the Turk had been standing with was Danni. Angeal hadn't been kidding when he'd said she wasn't a little girl anymore. She watched one in amusement as Christi shot out from behind her leg, wrapping her arms around Demyx's neck and burying her face in the crook of his neck. It looked like Christi had taken a liking to the young man. Alex remained silent as Demyx stood back up holding Christi and walked out the door with Danni in tow.

A few whispered words from Angeal had Zack and Kunsel walking out also, but not before Alex had done a double take on one of the SOLDIERs, she had left ShinRa but had still retained some distant connections with active Turks, the last she had heard Zack had died before Meteorfall. Then again, SOLDIER had supposedly disbanded and here she was standing on a fully functional SOLDIER floor.

Rufus was the last to leave, only leaving as Lazard asked to have a word in private with him. Although she realised the sudden mass-exodus was for her benefit, she still wanted to strangle Angeal for talking her into this. He talked her into coming back, then ran off and left her to deal with the mess she'd landed herself in. What was she supposed to say surprise? She doubted Genesis' sense of humour would stretch that far.

Genesis waited until Rufus and Lazard had left before he walked to the door and leaned back against it. Years may have passed since he'd last seen Alex, but he knew her better than she knew herself. She didn't like when matters were turned back around to face her. She could deal with everyone else's problems, but tended to run when it came to her own. He sighed as he looked back up to meet her steel coloured eyes, voicing the question he already knew the answer to.

"How old is she?"

Alex averted her eyes as she answered, cheeks heating up instantly as her voice wobbled.

"Five…going on six."

* * *

"Looks like _somebody's_ got a new friend."

Demyx stuck his tongue out at his girlfriend's smart comment. Christi had fallen asleep in his arms on the way to the Turks' Lounge; he guessed she must have been awake for the journey from Banora to Edge. Despite being asleep, it had still taken him a few seconds to disengage the sleeping child's arms from around his neck. He was the first to admit he was surprised by the child's actions, if he'd expected her to run to anyone it would have been to Angeal or Danni.

"Jealous much?"

Danni had to catch herself before laughing aloud, not expecting his quick retort. She also hadn't been expecting him to be so nice and friendly with Christi. In the two weeks that had passed since the Northern Crater, she'd become accustomed to his mood swings and bad humour. She'd gotten used to his short answers and harsh words. And it was only now that she realised how much she'd missed his wit and smile.

This morning she had been stressing out about how things were with him, she'd even resorted to asking Kunsel for advice. Danni sat down on one of the chairs in the kitchen area of the lounge, speaking quietly as Demyx took off his jacket and put it over the sleeping Christi.

"I'm glad you and Zexion sorted things out."

So was he, he'd been wasting too much time and energy focusing on what had happened, if he kept going down that path he'd end up losing anything he had now. He still wasn't entirely sure of what had happened, he could remember it clearly enough, but small details changed from time to time in his dreams. He guessed his head was still working to put the memories in order. His chat with Kaito earlier had helped to clear up some things too.

Danni stared at the floor for a few moments; she wanted to know something else. Who was Aisling? He'd mentioned the name a couple of times, usually just before waking up from a dream or nightmare. Was she someone he'd known before the Organization? Her stomach sank as she thought about the girl's name, what if she had been his girlfriend or something. She only knew Demyx, she didn't know anything about his life before the Organization, but now he did.

What happened if he wanted parts of that life back again? She was more than willing to help him if he wanted to do that, but she didn't want to end up losing her boyfriend to whoever he had been before.

"Who's Aisling?"

He hadn't expected her to know that name, he hadn't mentioned it to anyone yet, unless she'd seen it on the files he'd left strewn on the table since this morning, he and Kaito had ran to help before he'd had a chance to put everything away. Demyx frowned as he noticed a small glimmer of fear in Danni's eyes, maybe he should have confided in her rather than locking her out? It was too late to think about that now though.

"My younger sister…I think."

He didn't question her confusion. He had spent the last two weeks trying to piece things together, using his spare time to concentrate on being mad at Zexion. He hadn't wanted to land a ton of useless information on her, especially not when he didn't understand it himself either. But now he did, or at least he understood most of it. He still had a family, but he wasn't about to go walk back into it. He'd walked out of that life six years ago; he couldn't just stroll back in and wave.

Part of him hated Xemnas for that. With each day that had passed since the Northern Crater, he'd been remembering more, piecing the memories together to see the full picture. He could recall stupid little things, sibling rivalry, getting in trouble for things he hadn't done, pulling practical jokes on people and his brother. He could remember what he never thought he would, but he still couldn't go back to it. He had a mother, a brother and a sister, but they'd spent the last number of years adjusting to life without him or his father. They'd probably mourned for him along with his father, it wouldn't be fair on them for him to suddenly step back into their lives.

"Aisling, I think she'd be about fourteen or fifteen now, Ty would be about eighteen…apparently he likes causing trouble for ShinRa when they're in Costa del Sol."

"Brother and sister?"

Demyx nodded as he pulled out one of the chairs and sat down. He pointed to the sheets and files on the table, leaving out the scrunched up balls; they had been the only thing he'd had to take his frustration out on. He hadn't been willingly shutting her out, just stalling a bit until he had something proper to show her.

"Yeah…they still live in Costa del Sol with our - their Mom."

"If they live in Costa del Sol, what's stopping you from going there?"

Very little, but enough. Demyx knew he couldn't walk straight back into their lives, he wanted to, but he couldn't. For their sakes, he couldn't. He knew them as well as he knew himself, he knew that his Mom always locked the back door of the house, when she was about to lecture one of her kids; barring their exit route. He knew that Ty hid his favourite, and threadbare, sneakers at the back corner of his wardrobe. He knew that Aisling always slept with her door open a crack, because she was afraid of the dark. But he knew things could never go back to the way they had been. Demyx sighed as he sat on the arm of the sofa, speaking lowly so he didn't wake Christi.

"They think I'm dead. They've probably spent years getting over that, I can't walk back in and screw up their lives, Danni."

Danni stayed silent as she thought about his answer. It made sense, but she couldn't accept it; her parents were dead, if by some miracle she found out they were alive, she didn't care how long she'd spent grieving and mourning, she'd want them back in her life. She couldn't imagine how his mother had felt, with both a husband and son, taken away in a flash. But she was willing to bet that the woman would certainly take the option of having her son back, if possible.

"Kadaj killed my parents … that was months ago, but I know if they were alive, I'd want them back, regardless of how long I've spent crying."

"Even if I could, Danni, they're expecting Myde … I'm not **_him_**, not anymore."

* * *

Genesis shook his head as he glared at the woman across from him; she'd always had a knack for playing games and pranks, but this really over-stepped the mark. He wasn't an idiot. The young girl was going on six, meaning Alex would have been pregnant when SOLDIER collapsed. She definitely hadn't inherited her hair colour from her mother, not her skin tone. Her eyes, they were Alex's, but no the Mako that caused them to glimmer. Angeal had known, why else would he have shown up with her in tow? Had he done it for his own amusement though? He had always sided with her when they'd been kids, was this another one of their plots?

He was being childish to even consider that, but how was he supposed to react? He hadn't seen or heard from Alex since SOLDIER had defected, though that was partially his fault too. But to walk straight back into ShinRa, with a child? His child. If she'd been pregnant when he'd told her of SOLDIERs' plans, then why hadn't she said something to him? Genesis crossed his arms over his chest as he broke the silence of the room.

"You've done some stupid things before Alex, but this really tops them all. Why the **_hell_** didn't you say something?"

The defiant voice that had been lecturing her in her head seemed to shrink to a whisper as his voice bounded off the walls. She wanted to hate Angeal for talking her into doing this, but she was more angry with herself than anyone else. She should have said something, she had been fully prepared to tell him, but he'd beaten her to the punch.

"Are you even list-"

"Listening? The whole bloody floor is listening to you!"

Alex pushed herself away from the desk she'd been leaning against as she met his glare. He could be angry, but she'd only done what she had to protect Christi. If trying to protect her daughter had landed her in this hole, then she was quite content to stay in it.

"Say something? I didn't have to; you said everything I needed to know! You picked SOLDIER, Genesis. Would you have changed your mind, if you'd known? _Honestly_?"

His anger came to an abrupt halt as he thought about her question; would he have changed his mind. SOLDIER had been collapsing, members had defected and ShinRa had been corrupt, he'd had to leave with SOLDIER. If he hadn't, he would have been betraying the force. How had he to know that leaving had betrayed Alex? He couldn't say things would have changed, but he couldn't say things wouldn't have either. He couldn't abandon SOLDIER, but he would have figured something out.

"I … I don't know."

Alex watched as the man sighed and leaned back against the wall, running a hand over his face as the genuinely considered her question. At least he'd answered her honestly. It would have meant choosing between Angeal and her, something she knew he'd never be able to do, just as she'd never pick between him or Angeal. Genesis was if nothing else, loyal to the people he cared about; that was why she cared about him. She could have absconded with him, all those years ago. That had been what her heart had wanted, but what kind of life would Christi have had? Being raised amongst SOLDIER operatives, hidden away from the world and having no contact with kids her own age.

"I made the decisions I made, to protect Christi; to protect her from a childhood like Danni's. I didn't do it to hurt you, I did it because I knew how loyal you could be; you would have tried to make it work, I know. But, sometimes things just can't work like we want. I loved you, I still care about you, but I'm a Mom and Christi is my everything now."

* * *

**_A/N: Opinions would be appreciated - thanks for taking the time to read!_ _;)_**


	45. A Break

**_A/N: Hi :)_**

* * *

"_Don't harm him, please; I'll go with you … just leave him be."_

His eyes snapped open as a red flash interrupted his dream. Demyx sat up in his bed, as he heaved a heavy sigh; it was always the same dream; the same screams, the same salty breeze, the same tight feeling of fear in his chest. He found himself longing for the days when his past had still been a mystery, at least then a full night's sleep had been within his grasp.

Things had been quiet since the Organization's visit. There had been no reports of attacks across Gaia and very few, next to none, in the off-world bases. People were starting to relax and slide into normal routines. In the month that had passed since the Organization's half-hearted ambush, people were already moving on from their fear.

Demyx groaned as he stood, there wasn't much point in going back asleep; there were too many thoughts whirring around his head. The false sense of security hadn't affected him, he knew better. Larxene's words still rattled around his head: _don't expect another big confrontation, like when your little girlfriend got hurt … that's not on the agenda. Just wait thought … wait until the little kiddies have arrived._ Things had been difficult enough with how things were; organising different teams and ensuring none of the pregnant women got in harms way … things would be much more difficult with small infants added to the equation.

The Organization was a thorn in his side, some of its remaining members had been eliminated, but the ones left were its strongest. Xemnas had it in for him, but the feeling was mutual. SOLDIER were still trying to track Sephiroth and the Remnants, but the trail had been cold for weeks now.

It was too early to start worrying. The lull in activity would last for a few weeks, apparently. He wasn't about to waste that time pulling his hair out over what could happen. Demyx shook his head, walking through to the living area of their flat; it was early, but the sun was already up and the sky bare of any cloud ... definitely not a day for brooding over possibilities.

He pushed open the glass door to the balcony and took a deep breath of the morning air, before closing his eyes; it was like Costa del Sol, just without the salty tang to the air. He hated the dreams, but took comfort in the memories. His past wasn't one huge question mark any longer; names and faces didn't escape him anymore. He took solace in what he could recall, but rued the loss he felt. He had taken the liberty to read through some of ShinRa's reports from Costa del Sol. The witness accounts of what had happened matched what he could remember. His family, or what was left of it, still lived in Costa del Sol; they blamed ShinRa for what happened and believed him dead.

He didn't want them to blame ShinRa. ShinRa had done their fair share of dirty deeds in the past, but they honestly had no connection to what had happened his father. However, up until several months ago, no one on Gaia had known what a nobody of heartless was, the only bad guys the knew of, were ShinRa and Sephiroth.

"You're awake early."

"Hey…"

A smile tugged on his lips as he pulled Danni closer; wrapping his arms around her waist. He rested his head on her shoulder, swaying slightly as he pushed worries to the back of his mind; he was going to make the best of the lull in activity. He had no work and neither did she; it was odd for them both to have a day off together. They rarely got time to do things together as a couple anymore.

"Couldn't sleep … morning gorgeous."

Danni leaned back against her boyfriend as she stared at the sky. It was still cool, but it was sure to be a nice day. Things had been easier since she'd confronted Demyx about _Aisling_; he didn't shut her out anymore.

"Happy Birthday."

"You remembered?"

"Of course."

Demyx smiled as he kissed her cheek; he could have his dumb moments, but he wasn't about to forget her birthday. Neither would Zack or Angeal, or any of the others. He didn't want to be selfish, but it was time they spent a day together, without any relatives, without any SOLDIERs, without any interruptions.

"C'mon, let's get out of here."

* * *

"What's this place called?"

"Midgar."

"How come there's no dumb-apples here?"

Genesis smiled as he watched the small girl walking ahead of him; Rufus had asked Alex to accompany Marluxia to Balamb Garden, to run a technical check on their base there. He had offered to look after Christi for the day; he hadn't had much of a choice after Angeal had pointed out that he had the day off. He cursed Angeal for interfering; the last four weeks had passed in a blur of shouting, blaming, apologising, questioning and regretting. Nevertheless, if anything good came out of confusing month, it was that they were now standing on level ground; he had a daughter. His relationship, or lack thereof, with Alex was completely up in the air, but Christi was his daughter.

It had taken a while to get his head around the matter, with some words of wisdom from the ever-willing Angeal, along with an apology for just dumping the whole matter on him, but he was okay with that fact now. Alex had taken the initiative to sit Christi down two weeks ago and explained how some boys and girls had a different type of parents than others. With some help from Tifa, the two women had managed to somehow explain why her Daddy had been away working for such a long time.

"Dumb-apples only grow in Banora."

"But how come there's no other trees or plants here? Does grass only grow in Banora too?"

Genesis shook his head, stifling a laugh at the child's innocence.

"No, Christi, grass grows all over Gaia … just not here, not anymore."

"Why not?"

Question after question. Her curiosity was astounding, as was her endless supply of queries. He didn't recall ever seeing grass in Midgar; it would have been a bit hard to grow it up on the plate. The closest they'd come to such greenery on the plate had been a simulation room on the SOLDIER floor. Genesis nodded slowly, choosing his words carefully as he leaned back against a half-standing wall.

"There used to be a huge city here, but it was up in the sky. The people who worked for ShinRa lived up on the city, but lots of people lived in its shadow, on the ground."

Her gleaming grey eyes immediately looked up to the sky, searching for the magical city. Confusion clouded her thoughts as she tried to understand why it wasn't there anymore - what happened to all the people?

"But where did it go?"

"Mommy told you about Sephiroth, right?"

Christi nodded her head adamantly. Her Mommy had told her all about that man, and his three brothers.

"The Bad man."

Genesis nodded with a sigh; **_The Bad man_**, it was an ironic moniker for a man who had once been called **_Hero_**. Time changed things, the last four weeks alone had severely changed things; all along, he had been concerned with his own safety and how to best use SOLDIER's numbers to deal with the threat at hand, but now there was an innocent five-year-old in the middle of it all - how Cloud and Tifa managed with two kids was beyond him.

"He used to work with Angeal and I. But he decided he didn't like ShinRa or Midgar anymore … he did a lot of bad things, which destroyed the big city. When the city was destroyed, it hurt the land here - do you understand?"

"The grass doesn't grow, because the ground is sick?"

That was so much easier than what he had been trying to say, Genesis nodded his head again, already feeling guilty for the sad look in her eyes. He didn't like how things had turned out in Midgar anymore than Christi, but he was glad it was gone. Midgar had stood as a symbol of class differentiation; those with money and those who worked for ShinRa lived above the plate, enjoying the luxuries that came with such a lifestyle. While those who had lived in the slums had spent their lives living in shadows and surrounded by cast-offs … it wasn't a world he would have wished to have a child in.

Genesis pushed himself away from the dilapidated wall and crouched down in front of the solemn-looking five-year-old. There was still one place in this sorry excuse of a ruins that held some beauty; a small church close by. Zack had mentioned Aerith spending a lot of time there in the past weeks, Along with Tifa and the other children.

"There is one place here that isn't sick though; do you want to go see it?"

The child's saddened expression vanished in an instant, replaced with an adamant nod of her head and a beaming smile. Genesis nodded as he stood back up and took his daughter's hand.

* * *

Edge was a convoluted place at the best of times, but it paled in comparison to this tourist hotspot. Everyone that passed her seemed to be smiling or laughing; no thoughts about other worlds or what may unfold in the coming weeks. She wanted to be as oblivious as the strangers who passed her were.

"You're not allowed to think about work today."

"But what -"

"Forget about it, just for today … we're all entitled to a day off."

Danni smiled as Demyx draped his arm over her shoulder. She felt guilty for telling Angeal or Zack where they were, but maybe her boyfriend had a point? Neither of them took time off work, surely they were entitled to make the best of the day, particularly when it was her birthday. Danni pushed all thoughts and worries of work to the back of her mind, as she leaned into her boyfriend.

"So, this is like a date then?"

Demyx laughed as he shrugged.

"If you like."

"Let's hope it goes better than our first one."

"Couldn't go much worse."

Their first date had been a disaster and a half. Xemnas had shown up, a fight had ensued; she had been landed in a strange world with an unconscious Demyx. She had argued with complete strangers, stormed out and went walk-abouts in a foreign town. Then they'd ended up in an even stranger world … their first date had been a series of worst possible outcomes, but Danni didn't regret how things had turned out.

"Ducks selling ice-creams … I still can't get over that."

"Nobodies, Heartless, Remnants, a deranged SOLDIER, I can control water and it's **_ducks_** that stump you … and here I thought I was the slow one."

Demyx smirked as he dodged an elbow to the ribs. This was how their first date should have gone. At least he knew the answer to her question now; he knew where his home world was, he knew where he'd spent his childhood; here in Costa del Sol.

It had been an impulsive decision on his part, using a portal had held its risk, but Larxene had warned about things being quiet for a while, he was taking advantage of that.

Things were familiar here; the salty breeze, the sand blown onto the road, the ice-cream vendors, the shops, the small houses with their private gardens, the teenagers surfing, the laughter … it was the same as he remembered. He hoped he'd matured enough for the locals not to recognise him. He'd been a kid when Xemnas and his cohorts had arrived to disrupt festivities, not the lanky blond he was now.

"Hold on a sec…"

Danni bent over to take off her sneakers, resting her arm on his shoulder to keep her balance; she smiled as she finished stripping her feet and walked ahead of her boyfriend. Edge was nice, but she wasn't a city girl. She'd spent her childhood going between Gongaga and Midgar, until Angeal had taken her away from ShinRa. Regardless of the time she'd spent in the aerial city, she had remained a country girl at heart. There wasn't much left of her home these days, some of the surviving locals had returned to rebuild their houses, but the majority had moved elsewhere to start new lives.

She'd go back, someday. She would search through the remains of her home and salvage anything that had belonged to her parents, but not anytime soon. She wasn't ready to face where her parents and uncle had been killed. How Demyx was walking casually around Costa del Sol, she had no clue. He was strolling around with her, knowing that his family was somewhere here. He was doing what she was still scared to do; he'd grown up here, watched his father be killed and his family had been torn apart, but he was brave enough to face that.

* * *

"Oh - look at all the flowers!"

"Be careful around the water, Christi."

Genesis pushed the door of the church shut behind him as Christi ran ahead, awe-struck by the flowers that bordered the pool of water. She had grown up in Banora, playing in its orchards and exploring its landscape; Edge was a concrete labyrinth in comparison with the rural village. He smiled as he watched Christi walk slowly around the flowers, before bending down to examine them more closely.

The SOLDIER startled as a movement to his right caught his attention; his defences shot up as he jumped to conclusions; Sephiroth or one of the Organization? But a smile and small wave immediately quenched his fears … Aerith. But what was she doing here by herself? He knew this was the church she had always called her own, but she wouldn't stand a chance against Sephiroth and his cohorts if they decided to break the quiet spell.

"You shouldn't be here alone."

"I'm not alone anymore."

Aerith smiled as she eased herself into one of the pews, she understood his concerns, but she wouldn't have come here by herself if it had been unsafe. People were making the most of the relative peace, herself included. People had been far too preoccupied with chasing shadows in the last few weeks. She accepted the terms the Ancients had given her and Zack, but they could not base day-to-day actions around those rules.

She needed to be able to stand back and watch some days. Aerith watched as Christi stroked one of the smaller, yellow flowers; once upon a time, her only concern had been the wellbeing of such flowers. It seemed trivial now, but every life force on this planet was equal, regardless of whether that life-force could protect itself or not. Sadly, the majority of such forces were incapable of fending off harm, leaving their protection up to the dominant force; people.

"I'm happy that you and Alex can work through things, for her sake."

Genesis leaned against one of the pillars, keeping an eye on Christi's movements around the pool as he acknowledged the flower girl's words. He was glad too, but things were a long way from being normal between them. Right now they were being civil and trying to figure out where they stood in relation to each other.

He didn't ignore the matter at hand though; she shouldn't have come here on her own. It was isolated and an easy target. If the remnants or Sephiroth were to decide to re-instigate their tirade, she wouldn't hold much of a chance here. Especially not when she didn't bother to inform any of them about her decision to go walk-abouts.

"The next time you want to come here, make sure it's with someone."

Aerith nodded her head shallowly, conceding the argument to Genesis. No one would attack her, not here and not today. Sephiroth's views were squarely settled on bringing back his mother. He didn't need to hurt her, not this time. He had his new friends to use his game. The Organization was doing the dirty work, along with taking care of their own personal conflicts. They were the ones tracking down the remaining Jenova cells and eliminating many of those who opposed them. They were replaceable in the SOLDIER's eyes. They could fall, so long as he got what he wanted.

But the Organization were happy to oblige, they were collecting hearts also. Though their goal had shifted significantly from resurrecting Kingdom Hearts, Sephiroth had ensured them that his mother would reward them for their efforts. While most were fighting under that promise, their leader wasn't. Or at least, not anymore. He solely wanted revenge on those the people who had betrayed him … the boys who had helped Cloud and ShinRa.

Aerith knew she wasn't in any immediate danger. She wouldn't be targeted; she was of no use or value to them this time. Nevertheless, a nagging feeling in the back of her mind told her that someone else would be singled out, above them all.

"Where is Danni's boyfriend?"

Genesis shrugged as he kept watch on his daughter; he'd had the audacity to warn Danni about getting pregnant, when he'd had a kid of his own?

"Their apartment, I assume. Why?"

"If you're going to be concerned about anyone's safety, let it be his."

* * *

**_A/N: It's a bit shorter than usual, and kind of a filler chapter - thanks for reading :)_**


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